Edward Woodford
About Edward Woodford
Edward Woodford is the co-founder and CEO of zerohash, a crypto and stablecoin infrastructure company based in Chicago. He has led it since 2017. The World Economic Forum author page says zerohash serves customers such as Stripe, Franklin Templeton, Shift4 and Interactive Brokers, and has raised over $170M.
Before zerohash he co-founded Seed CX, a CFTC-registered derivatives execution venue that was later sold to tastytrade. Chicago Business reported that Seed CX raised $4.5M from 60 investors, including Cornerstone Angels. Woodford is British. He met his Seed CX co-founder Brian Liston as a finance graduate student at MIT.
He holds a B.A. in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Warwick and a Master of Finance from MIT. Goldman Sachs named him one of its Most Exceptional Entrepreneurs of 2023.
Little of his angel activity is public. Crunchbase lists Edward Woodford as an investor in the Zalos seed round. FinSMEs tags its Zalos funding report with the name Ed Woodford. The sources reviewed do not describe a wider angel portfolio, so none is listed here.
Zalos is the only AI round on record. In March 2026 the company announced a $3.6M seed round led by 14Peaks Capital. Cohen Circle, 20VC and a group of angels took part, and Dealroom's investor list for the round includes Woodford. Zalos builds autonomous AI agents that automate repetitive finance workflows inside a company's existing systems. It was founded in 2025 and came out of Y Combinator's F25 batch.
The only public data point is a seed-stage investment in an AI agent company for finance teams. That fits his operating background in financial infrastructure, but he has not published an investment thesis. No check size, geography preference or fund size is public.
- Zalos: autonomous AI agents for enterprise finance workflows. Participated in the $3.6M seed round announced March 2026.
- app.dealroom.co/companies/zalos
- crunchbase.com/hub/developer-tools-startups
- crunchbase.com/person/edward-woodford
- finsmes.com/tag/ed-woodford
- weforum.org/stories/authors/edward-woodford
- chicagobusiness.com/awards/edward-woodford-and-brian-liston
- finance.yahoo.com/news/zero-hash-honored-goldman-sachs-130000567.html
- linkedin.com/in/edwardwoodford
Investing activity
Edward Woodford appears in 1 AI deal tracked by the Lounge deals desk. The rounds are mostly Seed, with a median round size of $4M. The most recent is Zalos (Seed, $3.6M, Mar 2026).
Edward Woodford most often invests alongside 14Peaks Capital, Harry Stebbings, Minh Pham and Jon Langbert, and the companies they back on Lounge are mostly in AI.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Edward Woodford
Who is Edward Woodford?
He is the founder and CEO of zerohash, a crypto and stablecoin infrastructure company, and he previously co-founded Seed CX. He also appears as an angel investor in the Zalos seed round.
Has Edward Woodford invested in AI startups?
Yes. He is listed as an investor in Zalos, which builds AI agents for finance workflows. The round was a $3.6M seed announced in March 2026.
What is Edward Woodford's angel check size?
It is not public. He has not published a check size, and the Zalos announcement does not break out individual amounts.
What stage does Edward Woodford invest in?
The only public AI investment is a seed round, so seed is the stage on record. He has not stated a wider stage preference.
Should I pitch Edward Woodford for a finance AI startup?
His zerohash background is in financial infrastructure, and his one known AI investment is a finance automation company. Founders in fintech or finance AI have the clearest overlap with that record. He has not made public statements about what he looks for.
Where can I find Edward Woodford online?
He is on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/edwardwoodford and on X as @e_woodford. No personal website was found.
Is Edward Woodford an angel investor?
Yes. Edward Woodford invests personally as an angel.
What AI companies has Edward Woodford invested in?
Edward Woodford's AI investments include Zalos. The 1 round on Lounge are listed on this page with amounts, dates and co-investors.
What stage does Edward Woodford invest at?
In the rounds tracked on Lounge, Edward Woodford has invested at Seed, with a median round of $4M.
Who does Edward Woodford co-invest with?
Edward Woodford's most frequent co-investors on Lounge are 14Peaks Capital (1 deal), Harry Stebbings (1 deal), Minh Pham (1 deal), Jon Langbert (1 deal) and 20VC (1 deal).