Jay Malavia and Zayd Alzein both became interested in prediction markets around the time of the 2024 presidential election. But they quickly noticed that the nascent industry, which invited users to place bets on the odds of various events, was fragmented, with various listings spread across an increasing number of exchanges. That’s why they co-founded Kairos, a professional trading terminal specifically for prediction market users.
The startup announced it raised $2.5 million in a funding round led by a16z crypto, with participation from Geneva Trading, the University of Illinois and other angel investors. Malavia did not disclose the valuation of its company in the interview. wealth.
“Historically there have been very few opportunities to shape emerging industries,” said Malavia, the company’s CEO. “This is what we are building and it really energizes us.”
The co-founders hope to attract users with a platform that integrates products from two of the largest prediction markets, Kalshi and Polymarket, while providing fast, customizable dashboards. When using Kairos, customers can see the latest trades from these exchanges in one place, as well as the latest news alerts related to these bets. The company says its platform is two to three seconds faster than the Kalshi or Polymarket interfaces. It has integrated Kalshi and Polymarket into its terminal and plans to integrate several other exchanges soon.
Malavia and Chief Technology Officer Alzein, both in their early 20s, are family friends who grew up near Chicago. They are familiar with the complex trading terminals from their time as colleagues. CBOE Global Marketsa traditional financial company that acts as a derivatives and trading network. The two friends believe they will bring advanced trading technology to the growing prediction markets industry.
Kairos plans to launch a private beta in the coming weeks. The two co-founders are currently the only employees, but they plan to hire after the raise.
They anticipate that Kairos will first be most popular among sophisticated and professional prediction market traders. But in the future, it aims to be equally popular with regular traders. Malavia and Alzein said they see demand for their product from two groups: people who work in traditional finance and use prediction markets recreationally, and people who work in the crypto space.
The company’s name is derived from the Greek word kairos, meaning precise or critical time.
“Now is a good time to reinvent the industry and give power back to the people,” Malavia said. “In trading, it’s all about the right timing.”