Polymarket in fundraising talks at valuation of more than $20bn
Prediction platform looks to raise $1bn as it tries to gain ground on rival Kalshi
Polymarket is in talks over a $1bn fundraising at a valuation of $20bn as investors rush to back rapidly growing prediction markets.
The platform, which offers wagers on everything from elections and sports to measles outbreaks and missile launches, is seeking new investment that could more than double the valuation it achieved in a funding round last October, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Polymarket was valued at about $8bn in October when Intercontinental Exchange, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, said it would invest up to $2bn. It raised another $1bn at a $15bn valuation in April when it brought in new investors.
The latest funding talks, first reported by Bloomberg, come as Polymarket seeks to gain ground on its larger rival Kalshi, which closed a $1bn funding round at a $22bn valuation in May.
The total volume of contracts bought and sold on Kalshi hit $41bn in June, while Polymarket recorded about $13bn across both its original international platform and its US-regulated product, which launched in December, according to figures from data platform Dune.
Polymarket declined to comment.
Polymarket and other prediction platforms have been boosted by the World Cup, a major event for the gambling sector.
However, its trading volumes have fallen further behind Kalshi’s this year as it has grappled with technical glitches, blowback from lawmakers and heightened scrutiny over suspected insider trading on its platform.
A US soldier involved in planning the country’s January raid to seize Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro was charged in April with placing Polymarket wagers on the mission that netted more than $400,000. Gannon Ken Van Dyke, the soldier, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
France’s weather forecasting service also filed a police complaint in April after detecting anomalies in its temperature gauges in Paris, which coincided with a surge in well-timed bets on Polymarket.
Polymarket has said it tracks and reports suspicious bets and that Van Dyke’s arrest was “proof the system works”.
The company is also facing further legal and regulatory challenges, including a probe opened in recent weeks by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
The investigation came after consumer protection advocates called for stricter oversight following allegations of misleading marketing. Polymarket said it was “committed to maintaining accurate, fair and transparent markets”.
The company has in recent months sought to regain ground on Kalshi by expanding its range of markets and pushing further into sports, signing partnerships with leagues from the UFC mixed martial arts franchise to football’s Serie A. It has also hired new executives including Ari Borod, who previously worked at sports betting company Fanatics, and Hayk Mkrtchyan, who spent nearly a decade at the New York Stock Exchange.
The company now employs close to 300 people, up from just a few dozen at the beginning of 2025.