The Clearing Company, a prediction market platform started by former Polymarket and Kalshi staff, said on Wednesday it raised $15 million in a seed round.
The startup said in a statement it's "building a new kind of prediction market – onchain, permissionless and regulated."
Union Square Ventures led the funding round with Haun Ventures, Variant, Coinbase Ventures and others participating in the round. Top U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase recently said it planned to expand into the prediction markets space which allows people to wager on the outcomes of specific events like elections and sporting events.
The Clearing Company will compete with Polymarket, the apparent market leader, and Kalshi. Toni Gemayel, a former head of growth at both Polymarket and Kalshi is serving as CEO of The Clearing Company, according to the company's website. Other staff working at the startup include individuals who previously worked at Polymarket.
Polymarket, Kalshi making moves
Prediction markets, which soared in popularity during last year's U.S. elections, have made several moves in recent days. The president's son Donald Trump Jr. both invested in Polymarket and joined the company's advisory board this week. He previously took a role as strategic advisor at Kalshi earlier this year.
Polymarket had over 286,000 active traders in July, its highest total since April, ending a six-month downtrend for this metric.
Kalshi hired crypto influencer John Wang, a prominent voice in digital assets, to be its head of crypto as it aims to expand its user base. Robinhood, which wants to handle prediction market trading and has teamed up with Kalshi, has said it plans to let users bet on professional and college football.
Although there seems to be plenty of buzz surrounding prediction markets, some have offered criticism. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently said that most major prediction markets don't pay interest, which makes them "very unappealing for hedging."
According to Wednesday's announcement, other investors in The Clearing Company seed round included: Compound, Rubik, Earl Grey, Cursor Capital, Asylum, Terrance Rohan, Soleio, Furqan Rydhan, Bill Lee, Henri Stern, Elena Nadolinski, Jonah Van Bourg, and Ben Levy.
