The LSE Directory / Prop firms
Apex Trader Funding is a futures-only proprietary trading firm that gives retail traders access to firm capital after they pass a one-step, rules-based evaluation on a simulated account. Traders choose an account size between $25,000 and $300,000 (a $100,000 static-drawdown option is also offered), trade futures contracts through the evaluation, and once funded keep 100% of profits on the first $25,000 and 90% thereafter, per the firm's published payout rules. The firm specializes exclusively in futures, which distinguishes it from multi-asset prop firms that also run forex or equities evaluations. It supports execution through Tradovate, Rithmic and RTrader Pro, NinjaTrader and TradingView, and many of its plans drop the daily loss limits and news-blackout rules common at competitors, permitting trading through economic releases and market holidays. In March 2026 the firm replaced its long-standing recurring monthly subscription fee for evaluation access with a one-time payment structure branded Apex 4.0, adding end-of-day and intraday trailing-drawdown plan choices; multiple futures prop-firm trade publications covered the relaunch as a significant repricing of the category. Apex Trader Funding was founded in 2021 by Darrell Martin, who had earlier founded Apex Investing, a trader-education site, more than a decade before launching the funding business; the company is headquartered in Austin, Texas. It states it serves a trader community spanning more than 150 countries. In a June 2024 press release distributed via PR Newswire (and republished by independent outlets including the St. Louis American and the Globe and Mail), the company said it had paid out just over $200 million to funded traders since launch. As of the March 2026 Apex 4.0 relaunch, evaluations for the $25,000, $50,000, $100,000 and $150,000 account tiers are sold as one-time payments rather than monthly subscriptions, with a separate activation fee due only after a trader passes, and payouts processed through the Deel platform, according to trade press coverage of the update.
