KelAI Raises $5 Million to Automate Investment Research

KelAI, founded by former WorldQuant portfolio manager Jeremie Cohen, is building an AI research engine for hedge funds, traders and institutional investors. The platform connects a fund’s data, mandate, risk rules and research history, then uses agents to generate ideas, write and test code, run backtests and monitor signals. Its pitch targets a persistent industry bottleneck: expanding research capacity without adding staff while preserving context scattered across notebooks, emails and systems.

KelAI announced on July 19, 2026, that it raised $5 million in a seed round led by Frst, with participation from Y Combinator, Robinhood Ventures and angel investors from the AI and finance sectors. The financing was reported on July 24. The New York startup said its signals have been running with an institutional investor since October 2025 and plans to use the capital to improve its product and selectively expand its local team.