TLDR:
- Pantera Capital led Novig’s $75 million Series B, placing the sports prediction platform at a $500 million valuation.
- Novig charges zero fees for retail traders, collecting revenue instead from institutional participants on its platform.
- Novig is pursuing a CFTC license, with co-founder Jacob Fortinsky expecting the process to wrap up within six months.
- Fortinsky claims 20% of Novig bettors are likely profitable, a rate he says surpasses that of competing platforms.
Novig, a sports-focused prediction market platform, has secured $75 million in a Series B funding round. Pantera Capital led the round, valuing the company at $500 million.
The raise positions Novig as a direct challenger to established players Kalshi and Polymarket. Co-founder Jacob Fortinsky described the platform as built for modern sports bettors.
The funding comes as prediction markets continue to draw growing regulatory and investor attention across the United States.
Novig’s Peer-to-Peer Model Sets It Apart from Traditional Sportsbooks
Novig operates on a peer-to-peer model, meaning users do not bet against the house. According to Fortinsky, this structure theoretically gives bettors better odds than traditional sportsbooks.
Platforms like FanDuel operate differently, with users trading against the platform itself. Novig’s model removes that structural disadvantage for retail participants.
Fortinsky made the company’s mission clear when he told Fortune, “We started the company because we felt sports betting was broken.”
He added that the goal from day one was to build a platform that was “consumer-friendly, the most engaging, and the most profitable way possible.”
That vision shaped how Novig structured its fee model from the ground up. The platform charges no fees for retail traders, drawing its name from the term “vig,” the rake sportsbooks typically collect.
Instead, Novig charges fees to institutional participants operating on the platform. Fortinsky noted that roughly 20% of Novig bettors are likely to be profitable, which he claims is higher than competing platforms.
That figure, though modest, reflects a more favorable environment for everyday users. Retail traders effectively bet against so-called “smart money” on the platform.
Fortinsky co-founded Novig in 2021 during his senior year at Harvard alongside Kelechi Ukah. The pair entered Y Combinator the following year to develop the product.
Novig initially registered as a regulated sports betting operator in Colorado before shifting to a sweepstakes model. However, that approach drew legal challenges from state regulators.
Sports-First Approach Drives Novig’s Case Against Kalshi and Polymarket
Novig’s core argument against Kalshi and Polymarket centers on brand and product focus. Fortinsky explained that the median sports fan is “far more likely to use an app whose brand and whose product is really built with sports in mind, rather than with crypto or war in South America.”
Kalshi and Polymarket were originally built around other contract types before expanding into sports. Novig, by contrast, was designed specifically with sports fans in mind from the start.
Today, the majority of Kalshi’s volume comes from sports contracts, though some state governments are working to restrict sports-based prediction markets.
Novig is less focused on the legal debate and more focused on the user experience argument. Fortinsky stated that existing platforms dominate through fees and unfavorable structures, describing the market as “basically dominated by these casinos that are trying to make as much money as possible at the expense of sports fans.” That positioning drives Novig’s pitch to both bettors and investors.
Fortinsky also addressed criticism around sports betting more broadly. He acknowledged that “financial trading and betting are sort of converging,” pushing back on the characterization of Novig as a gambling platform.
For many sports fans, he argued, betting “deepens their engagement, deepens their enjoyment and their fan experience.”
CFTC chair Michael Selig has similarly argued in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that event-contract markets serve legitimate economic functions.
The company is now applying to operate under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, with Fortinsky expecting registration to be completed within six months.
This regulatory path follows a 2024 court victory by Kalshi, which broadened what prediction markets could legally offer.
Novig’s $500 million valuation reflects how much investor appetite exists in this space. The fresh capital will support the platform’s national expansion as it pursues its CFTC license.
