Elsen was founded to tackle the longstanding and industry-wide challenges with the way financial services firms manage, access and use data.

The idea for Elsen blossomed through experiences the company’s founder, Zac Sheffer, had working at Credit Suisse. Zac thought he’d have access to cutting edge technology and resources to conduct research and make investment decisions, but the reality was far from what he envisioned. Even at one of the world’s largest investment banks, the technology being used on a day-to-day basis was decades-old, at best. When Zac learned that this was the status quo across the financial services industry, he decided to do something about it. He connected with fellow Northeastern University alumni with expertise in high-performance computing and user experience design – to complement his background in finance and engineering – and they began building a solution. A year after Elsen was founded in 2014, the company was selected as a member of the inaugural class of FinTech Sandbox, a non-profit founded to promote fintech innovation. Soon after, Elsen began working with some of the most respected companies in the financial services industry and has continued to build its business and expand these relationships by delivering on its ability to make data-driven investment strategies more accessible and cost-effective.