Prediction market startup Pascal has raised $9 million to develop event contracts for professional traders. Union Square Ventures led the Series A, taking total funding to $15 million.
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Pascal does not plan to copy Kalshi or Polymarket. Instead, the New York company is building lower-fee trading infrastructure, reliable execution and capital-efficient tools for experienced market participants.
Its event contracts use mechanics similar to crypto perpetual futures. Standard prediction contracts close when an outcome resolves, while the Pascal structure allows traders to manage positions in a format closer to derivatives trading.
Pascal also aims to reduce phantom fills, where an order appears completed but never settles.
“I would love to see a world where there are liquid markets for the types of risks that real businesses face and are interested in hedging,” cofounder Ivo Crnkovic-Rubsamen told Fortune.
Crnkovic-Rubsamen previously worked as a quantitative trader at Bridgewater Associates and D.E. before leading crypto derivatives exchange dYdX. Cofounder Matthew Downey has experience in high-frequency crypto trading.
Their institutional backgrounds shape a platform built around execution quality and liquidity rather than sportsbook-style presentation.
Kalshi and Polymarket currently carry reported combined valuations above $37 billion. Pascal, however, is betting that professional traders still lack purpose-built prediction market infrastructure.
The company has not disclosed private beta trading volume or a valuation for the Series A.