Polymarket Letting Users Make Bets on Private Company Fortunes

Polymarket has introduced what it calls the first prediction markets connected to private company performance.

These new offerings, launched Tuesday (May 19), are designed to let users bid on events at “some of the most sought-after private companies,” while also giving institutional investors another signal as to how private markets are performing.

“More value is being created in private companies today than at any point in modern history,” Polymarket said in a news release.

“Nearly 1,600 unicorns globally now hold more than $5 trillion in cumulative value, yet access has been largely reserved for institutions and high-net-worth investors – leaving the vast majority of individuals on the sidelines of the value creation that happens before a company goes public.”

The offering is happening via a partnership with Nasdaq Private Market, which provides liquidity and investment infrastructure for the private market, and will act as the resolution data provider for private company markets on Polymarket.

Shayne Coplan, Polymarket’s founder and CEO, said that the partnership would help retail participants access a part of the financial markets that had been closed off.

“For the first time, anyone can engage with the outcomes driving value at the world’s most consequential private companies,” Coplan said.

By joining Polymarket’s prediction market infrastructure with Nasdaq Private Market’s data on primary and secondary market activity, the new offering is designed to let users engage with “verifiable private company events,” such as valuation milestones or the timing of initial public offerings (IPOs), the release added.

A report on the partnership by Bloomberg News points out that Polymarket already offers bets on some events related to private companies. Among them is a contract on what OpenAI’s closing market capitalization will be on its first day as a public company. It has drawn around $1.6 million in trading volume since it was offered in September.

In other predictions markets news, PYMNTS wrote earlier this month about DraftKings’ focus on that side of the business as it deals with the “consequence of market maturation.”

“Many of the largest states that were likely to legalize sports betting already have,” the report said. “Customer acquisition costs are stabilizing rather than collapsing. And competition among the leading operators has evolved from a land-grab battle into a contest centered on retention, engagement and product differentiation.”

In the case of DraftKings, the report added, that means prediction markets as well as fantasy contests, casino gaming, sports betting, payments and live-event engagement, “all operating within a unified ecosystem.”