Pre-launch · Building in Connecticut · Pilots planned with local card shops
Trust infrastructure for the trading card economy.
slab.ai is building AI-assisted grading delivered through capture kiosks at local card shops — standardized imaging, expert human review, tamper-evident slabs, and a verifiable digital record for every card.
Current status
- First capture rig
- In build
- Slab prototype
- In design
- Shop pilots
- Planned — Connecticut
- Investor deck
- Available on request
01Problem
Grading is the trust layer of a multi-billion-dollar market — and it hasn't been rebuilt in decades.
Collectors ship irreplaceable cards away for weeks and pay for an opinion they can't inspect.
Grades are inconsistent because the inputs are inconsistent — every card is examined under different conditions, by a different person, on a different day.
The result: trust rests on brand names, not on verifiable systems. Provenance is lossy, and shops and collectors absorb the friction.
A $15B+ global trading-card market inside a >$400B collectibles economy.
02Why now
Three shifts make a new grading standard possible.
Computer vision matured
Condition attributes that once required a trained eye can now be measured consistently — when the imaging is controlled.
The hobby went mainstream
Record grading demand, weeks-long backlogs, and a generation of collectors who expect transparency and speed.
Trust expectations changed
People accept AI in high-stakes decisions when it is auditable and paired with human judgment.
03The system
One system, end to end: capture, grade, seal, verify, track.
- 01
Capture
Guided, standardized capture produces consistent, review-ready images every time.
- 02
Verify
Every slab carries visible and digital authenticity features you can check in seconds.
- 03
Report
Transparent condition reports show the evidence behind every grade, with expert human review where it matters.
In plain words, the full stack is: hardware-assisted capture, computer vision, grading workflows, human-in-the-loop review, slab identity, provenance, and collection inventory — and, later, marketplace infrastructure and market data. Built in phases, not all at once.
04Kiosk-first
Great grading starts with great inputs. So we're building the input.
Casual photos vary in lighting, angle, focus, and background — and inconsistent inputs produce inconsistent grades. slab.ai's answer is a capture kiosk: a controlled imaging station deployed at local card shops and card shows. Every card is photographed the same way, under the same conditions, every time — studio-grade consistency without shipping your card anywhere.
The same standardization that makes grades repeatable also makes every capture a high-quality, structured data point, so the system improves with every card it sees.
Kiosks live where the hobby already lives. Shops host the kiosk, share in the revenue, and give their customers grading without the wait or the shipping risk.
05Grading
AI for consistency. Humans for judgment. Records for everything.
slab.ai doesn't ask anyone to trust a black box. Models analyze condition attributes — centering, corners, edges, surface — from standardized imagery. Expert human reviewers check flagged cases and spot-check the rest.
Every grade produces a transparent report showing what was evaluated, and every decision is logged. The goal isn't AI instead of humans; it's a system where consistency is engineered and judgment is accountable.
Grading has been treated as an opinion problem. We treat it as a data problem — every grade backed by evidence.
06Trust & provenance
Authenticity that travels with the card.
Each graded card is sealed in a tamper-evident slab carrying a unique QR-linked identity. Scan any slab to see its verified record — the grade, the report, and its history.
Opening the slab shows. The physical object and its digital record stay bound together across every future sale.
- Secure QR badge
- Scan to verify any slab in seconds.
- Tamper-evident seal
- Opening it shows.
- Durable protective shell
- Built for display, storage, and handling.
- Crystal-clear display
- Designed so the card, not the label, is the hero.
07Collections
Every graded card joins a living collection.
Grading is the front door; the collection is the relationship. Every slab.ai card lands in the owner's digital collection — verifiable, shareable, and organized.
Collectors track what they own; shops and high-volume sellers manage inventory with provenance built in. Social and profile features — showcases, collection milestones — live here, on the community side, deliberately separate from the grading workflow itself.
The slab.ai app is where you verify, track, and share — your collection in your pocket.
08Roadmap
A full-stack company, built one layer at a time.
- Now
Building the system
Building the capture and grading system; preparing pilots with Connecticut card shops and shows.
- Next
Public pilots
Kiosk grading, sealed slabs, verifiable reports, collector profiles and inventory.
- Later
The network
Expanded kiosk network, marketplace integrations and partner APIs, and market-data products built on verified grading records.
09Founder
Built by a founder who works across the whole stack.
slab.ai is led full-time by founder Jack Moriarty, who owns product, AI/ML architecture, and strategy — supported by Connecticut's startup ecosystem, including the UConn Technology Incubation Program. The company is deliberately structured to expand to a small, senior early team: operations, technical leadership, grading and domain expertise, and go-to-market & community.
10Investors
We're building the trust layer for a market that runs on trust.
slab.ai is raising to put its first capture kiosks into the field and prove the model where the hobby lives. If you invest in AI-enabled hardware, marketplaces, or category-defining infrastructure, we'd like to talk.
11FAQ
Questions investors ask.
Is slab.ai live?
Not yet — we're pre-launch, building in Connecticut, with shop pilots planned. Everything on this site describes what we're building, not claims about a shipped product.
How is this different from PSA, Beckett, or CGC?
Incumbents run manual, opaque processes with weeks-long turnarounds and shipping risk. slab.ai is built around standardized capture, AI-assisted analysis with expert human review, transparent reports, and local kiosks — no shipping your cards away.
Can AI grading be trusted?
Alone, it shouldn't be — that's why slab.ai pairs models with human reviewers and gives every grade an auditable, transparent report. Trust comes from the system, not the model.
Do I grade from my phone?
No — grading happens at slab.ai kiosks, where imaging is controlled and consistent. The app is for verifying slabs, tracking your collection, and sharing it.
What about fraud and tampering?
Slabs are tamper-evident with QR-linked identity; opening one shows, and every record is verifiable.
Is this a crypto project?
No. slab.ai grades and authenticates physical cards with verifiable digital records. No tokens.
How does slab.ai make money?
Grading and slabbing fees at the kiosk, with shops sharing in the revenue; platform and data products come later.
How do I invest, host a kiosk, or join?
Investors: request the deck at /investors. Shop owners: register pilot interest at /kiosk. Future teammates: introduce yourself via /contact.