Warsaw-based startup Elastics has secured $2 million in an oversubscribed pre-seed funding round to advance its AI trading platform. Led by French VC firm Frst, the investment aims to democratize quantitative trading tools for individuals in prediction markets. The company seeks to provide retail traders an edge previously exclusive to large financial institutions.
Addressing the Institutional Advantage
The inspiration for Elastics came from co-founder Szymon Pawica’s time at Goldman Sachs. He saw how quantitative funds use vast resources to automate strategies, creating a major disparity with retail traders. This experience revealed a clear market need for accessible, AI-powered trading solutions.
Pawica, an NYU Stern graduate, teamed up with CTO Mateusz Brodowicz to launch the venture. Brodowicz, a mathematician, brings direct experience building quantitative models for prediction market funds. Their combined expertise underpins the company's mission to bridge the institutional-retail divide.
A Conversational AI Trading Platform
Elastics is building an AI-native operating system that provides automated research, execution, and portfolio management. The platform utilizes auditable AI agents, enabling users to create and deploy complex trading workflows with ease. This system is designed to bring sophisticated financial tooling to a much broader audience.
A key innovation is its "Trade with Words" feature, which uses a conversational interface for executing trades. Users can describe a desired position in plain language, bypassing traditional and complex order forms. This approach positions a language model as the primary interface between the trader and the market.
Strategic Investment and Market Growth
The $2 million round was led by Frst and attracted notable angel investors from the AI and crypto industries. Participants include the co-founders of ElevenLabs, partners from XBTO, and a scout from a16z. This strong backing highlights significant confidence in the Elastics vision and its founding team.
Pierre Entremont of Frst emphasized the growing importance of prediction markets as an emerging asset class. He stated that Elastics is building the critical AI layer that this nascent industry requires for its next growth phase. The firm is excited to back the founders as they democratize access to these powerful tools.
This funding arrives as platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi reach multi-billion dollar valuations, driven largely by retail participation. Elastics aims to fill a crucial void by providing these traders with meaningful, automated tooling. The company is stepping into a market ripe for technological disruption.
Future Roadmap and Vision
The new capital will be used to hire elite AI and quantitative talent in Poland. The platform is currently in a private beta, with early access available to approved users. This strategic hiring will accelerate product development ahead of a wider public release.
CEO Szymon Pawica believes that as AI automation spreads, the window for manual traders to compete is closing. He argues that platforms must evolve beyond outdated interfaces designed for a pre-AI world. Elastics aims to ensure using automation becomes a choice for traders, not a constraint.
With its $2 million in pre-seed funding, Elastics is poised to make a significant impact on the financial technology landscape. By developing an accessible AI-powered platform, the company is breaking down barriers in quantitative trading. This initiative promises to empower individual investors and reshape participation in the rapidly expanding prediction markets.