Pascal Raises $9m In Series A Funding To Expand Prediction Markets Platform
The New York-based startup has secured fresh investment as it looks to carve out a niche in the rapidly growing prediction markets sector with a platform aimed at institutional traders.
Prediction markets startup Pascal has completed a $9m Series A funding round led by Union Square Ventures as the company looks to accelerate development of its trading platform.
The latest investment follows a $6m seed funding round completed in August last year, which attracted backing from Wintermute Ventures and DBA.
While the prediction markets sector is currently dominated by Kalshi and Polymarket, Pascal is pursuing a different strategy by focusing on professional traders and institutional-grade infrastructure rather than competing directly for the retail market.
Platform Built For Professional Traders
Pascal has developed a platform that applies perpetual futures-style mechanics to event contracts, allowing traders to maintain positions in a way that more closely resembles crypto derivatives markets than traditional prediction markets.
The company believes this approach offers greater flexibility while also reducing trading costs and minimising so-called "phantom fills", where trades appear to execute but ultimately fail to settle.
Co-founder Ivo Crnkovic-Rubsamen told Fortune: "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."
The company takes its name from 17th-century mathematician Blaise Pascal, whose pioneering work on probability theory helped shape modern statistical analysis and risk modelling.
Experienced Leadership And Regulatory Challenges
Pascal was founded by Crnkovic-Rubsamen and Matthew Downey, who both have extensive experience in institutional and cryptocurrency trading.
Before launching the business, Crnkovic-Rubsamen worked as a quantitative trader at Bridgewater Associates and D.E. Shaw before becoming chief executive of crypto derivatives exchange dYdX in 2024. Downey also brings experience in high-frequency cryptocurrency trading.
The platform entered private beta in June, although the company has yet to disclose trading volumes or user numbers.
Pascal is entering a sector that has experienced rapid growth over the past year, driven by the increasing popularity of prediction markets around major political and sporting events. However, the industry also faces growing regulatory scrutiny in the United States, with several states questioning whether certain event contracts should be regulated as gambling products.
As the company continues to develop its platform, industry observers will be watching closely to see whether Pascal secures regulatory approvals, attracts institutional liquidity providers and demonstrates sustained trading activity once it launches beyond its private beta phase.
