As the prediction markets Kalshi and Polymarket dominate the attention of investors and regulators, a sports-focused challenger called Novig is announcing $75 million in fresh funding to compete with the twin giants. Led by blockchain venture firm Pantera Capital, Novig’s Series B round values the startup at $500 million.
Once a highly restricted pastime, sports betting has in recent years seeped into every corner of the U.S. economy. First came a 2018 Supreme Court decision that paved a path for states to legalize gambling on leagues such as football, basketball, and baseball. Then a 2024 court victory by Kalshi broadened the types of contracts that prediction markets could offer, leading platforms to move beyond offering bets on weather and awards show outcomes, and into fields like elections and sports.
Today, the vast majority of Kalshi’s volume comes from sports contracts, even as some state governments are seeking to limit or shut down sports-based prediction markets. Novig, though, is focusing less on the legal dimensions and taking up a different argument when it comes to sports betting: that the existing options rip off their users.
“We started the company because we felt sports betting was broken,” cofounder Jacob Fortinsky told Fortune. “Our mission from day one was to build a platform really built for modern sports bettors in the most consumer-friendly, the most engaging, and the most profitable way possible.”
