Polymarket nears Founders Fund-led funding at over $1 billion valuation, source says

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By Manya Saini

(Reuters) -Polymarket is close to raising $200 million in a funding round that values the world’s biggest prediction market at more than $1 billion, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.

Billionaire Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, an existing investor, is set to lead the round, the person added, requesting anonymity to discuss confidential information.

Founded in 2020 by Chief Executive Shayne Coplan, Polymarket has helped popularize event derivatives trading, which involves buying and selling contracts tied to real-world events such as elections, economic data releases or policy decisions.

Unlike traditional betting, traders buy and sell shares linked to specific outcomes, with prices for opposing sides together totaling $1.

These relatively new and high-risk instruments gained momentum ahead of the 2024 U.S. presidential election, as trading volumes on platforms like Polymarket surged.

Polymarket allows users to place bets using cryptocurrency on real-world events. The platform does not currently allow U.S.-based users to trade, in line with guidance from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Proponents argue that event derivatives offer a more accurate way to forecast real-world outcomes by harnessing the collective intelligence of traders with financial stakes in their predictions.

During the 2024 U.S. presidential election, contracts on Polymarket predicting a Republican sweep surged, even as most traditional media outlets and polls favored Democrat Kamala Harris.

Current markets on the platform include questions about whether the Iranian regime will fall this year, if Iran will close the Strait of Hormuz before July, and the likelihood of a U.S. recession in 2025.

Polymarket’s competitors in the growing event-driven trading space include PredictIt and Kalshi.

The company declined comment on the funding round. The Information first reported the news on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Tasim Zahid)