- News emerges about two weeks after company was valued at up to $10 billion
- Rival Kalshi said to be considering investment offers at up to $12 billion valuation
- Polymarket was valued at just $1 billion in June
Kalshi and Polymarket recently raised capital at eye-catching multiples, but the two prediction market operators may be back at the financing well with the latter possibly seeking investments that would value it at $12 billion to $15 billion.
Citing unidentified sources close to the matter, Bloomberg reported earlier today that Polymarket could pursue another funding round that would value it at $12 billion to $15 billion. That news emerges barely more than two weeks after Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE), the owner of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), took a $2 billion stake in Polymarket at a pre-money valuation of $8 billion.
That deal, which made Polymarket founder Shayne Coplan the youngest self-made billionaire on record, values the event contracts platform at $9 billion to $10 billion post-investment. At the high end of the range, the company is now worth 20% to 50% more than it was 16 days, assuming rumors about the new funding round are accurate.
Polymarket investors include Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, Donald Trump Jr., and Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, among others. Trump Jr.’s 1789 Capital firm made a double-digit, multimillion-dollar investment in Polymarket in August. He holds advisory roles at both Kalshi and Polymarket. Speaking of Thiel, he’s sitting pretty on his Polymarket stake because he invested $200 million at a $1 billion valuation in June.
Kalshi Valuation Also Rapidly Soaring
Also less than three weeks removed a major funding round that pushed its valuation to $5 billion, Kalshi is rumored to be holding talks with prospective investors on another financing series that could vault the value of the company to $10 billion to $12 billion.
The Kalshi reports surface as prediction markets operating in the US report a steady string of record-breaking volume, largely aided by football season. Professional investors are clearly displaying enthusiasm for prediction markets, but they may overlooking potential risks with Kalshi.
For example, Polymarket — Kalshi’s most direct competitor — isn’t officially live in the US because that process has hampered by the US government shutdown. When Polymarket debuts in this country, the competition with Kalshi will intensify.
Additionally, Robinhood Markets (NASDAQ: HOOD), which accounts for up to 35% of Kalshi’s turnover on a daily basis, said it could evaluate prediction markets acquisitions or examine building an in-house platform, indicating it doesn’t need to permanently maintain its partnership with the derivatives exchange.
Further highlighting Kalshi’s competitive vulnerabilities that investors appear willing to overlook, DraftKings (NASDAQ: DKNG), one of the largest online sportsbook operators, said Tuesday it’s buying Railbird Technologies, the parent company of prediction markets firm Railbird Exchange. The company said it will rollout DraftKings Predictions in the coming months, putting it into direct competition with the likes of Kalshi.
Speaking of DraftKings…
The DraftKings is potentially bad for Kalshi and other prediction market firms, but not for Polymarket. It’s actually a positive for Coplan’s company because Polymarket will clear DraftKings Predictions transactions.
“Congrats to DraftKings on their acquisition of Railbird,” Coplan wrote in an X post on Wednesday. “We’re proud for Polymarket Clearing to be their designated clearinghouse as they enter the prediction market space.”
Polymarket has clearinghouse capabilities by way of its $112 million acquisition of clearinghouse and derivatives exchange QCEX LLC, announced in June. That deal is also paving the way for the buyer to reenter the US.
The post Polymarket Valuation Could Soar to $15 Billion in Next Funding Round appeared first on Casino.org.
