Key Highlights
- Executives from both Kalshi and Polymarket have backed 5c(c) Capital despite competing in the same market.
- The new venture firm is aiming to raise as much as $35 million to invest in prediction market startups.
- The fund is being launched by two former Kalshi employees and plans to target infrastructure-focused companies.
Two of the best-known names in prediction markets are backing the same new venture fund, even as their companies compete for dominance in the sector.
According to a Fortune report, Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour and Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan have both invested in 5c(c) Capital, a new firm raising up to $35 million to fund startups tied to prediction market infrastructure, according to a pitch document cited in the report.
The support is notable because Kalshi and Polymarket remain direct rivals in a fast-growing market that has also drawn legal and regulatory scrutiny.
Fund launched by former Kalshi employees
5c(c) Capital is being led by Adhi Rajaprabhakaran and Noah Zingler-Sternig, two early Kalshi employees.
Rajaprabhakaran previously worked as the second trader hired at Kalshi’s affiliated market maker, while Zingler-Sternig served as the company’s former head of operations. The fund’s name refers to a clause in federal commodities law, a nod to the regulatory framework that now touches prediction markets.
According to the report, the firm plans to invest in startups building around the sector rather than in the exchanges themselves.
Backers include major venture names
Alongside Mansour and Coplan, the fund’s reported backers include Marc Andreessen through Moneta Luna, Ribbit Capital founder Micky Malka, and former Multicoin Capital managing partner Kyle Samani. A Kalshi spokesperson confirmed Mansour’s involvement, while Samani also confirmed that he backed the fund. Other parties cited in the report did not immediately comment.
The list suggests investor interest is extending beyond the trading platforms and into the businesses that could support the broader prediction market ecosystem.
Focus on infrastructure, not just trading platforms
The fund reportedly plans to back about 20 companies over the next two years. These investments are expected to include firms involved in market making, prediction market indices, and other parts of the infrastructure stack.
The focus reflects a broader bet that the sector may expand beyond high-profile consumer platforms into services and tools that support trading, pricing, liquidity, and settlement.
Pressure on prediction markets
The fund launch also comes as prediction markets face fresh scrutiny in Washington. A bipartisan pair of senators, Adam Schiff and John Curtis, is preparing legislation that would bar federally regulated platforms from offering contracts tied to sports and casino-style games.
The proposal would apply to CFTC-regulated venues, including Kalshi and Polymarket’s planned U.S. platform, and marks one of the clearest Senate efforts yet to directly limit the sector’s fastest-growing category.
Common ground
Even with these tensions, the fund backing shows there is at least one area where competing executives appear aligned: the view that prediction markets will create demand for a wider set of supporting businesses.
This does not lessen the rivalry between Kalshi and Polymarket, but it does suggest that some investors see the longer-term opportunity as larger than any single exchange.
Also Read: Polymarket Expands Stricter Integrity Rules for DeFi and U.S. Markets
