Darrell Martin
Darrell Martin is the Founder and CEO of Apex Trader Funding and Apex Investing, bringing nearly two decades of experience to the futures and financial markets. Driven by a mission to democratize trading, he established a "trader-first" funding model designed to remove restrictive barriers and prioritize transparency. Through his platforms, Darrell empowers retail traders with the professional tools, capital, and education needed to compete in the markets with limited personal financial risk.
Darrell Martin
Founder & CEO, Apex Trader Funding
Darrell Martin is a pioneering figure in the world of retail futures trading and the visionary force behind Apex Trader Funding. With nearly two decades of experience in the financial markets, Darrell has dedicated his career to democratizing access to professional trading tools and capital.
From Trader to Innovator, Darrell’s journey began with a personal mission: to secure a financial future for his growing family. Starting as a retail trader, he navigated the complexities of the markets from the ground up, learning early lessons in risk management from mentors like John Netto. He quickly realized that the greatest barrier for most talented traders was not a lack of skill, but a lack of capital and transparent education.
Driven by a desire to "leave a legacy," Darrell originally began recording educational videos for his daughter. These resources eventually evolved into Apex Investing, an educational platform that has helped thousands of traders worldwide improve their consistency.
In 2021, Apex Trader Funding was born from Darrell's singular purpose to fix what was broken in the prop trading industry. After reviewing countless funding companies and finding them lacking, he became frustrated by their restrictive rules and set out to build a superior model—one he would want to use himself.
His philosophy was simple: build a model by traders, for traders. Darrell designed Apex to remove the industry’s most common stumbling blocks—eliminating daily loss limits, allowing news trading, and ensuring holidays didn't cap a trader's upside.
Under his leadership, Apex Trader Funding has grown into a premier evaluation firm with tens of thousands of members in over 150 countries. Today, it is recognized for paying out more to its customers than any other futures funding evaluation firm in the industry.
Darrell holds both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree and has developed trading tools used by Fortune 500 companies and major exchanges. Despite his institutional success, his primary focus remains on the individual trader. Through Apex, he continues to prove that with the right discipline, patience, and access to company capital, retail traders can compete on a professional level with limited personal financial risk.