Two Leading Predictive Market Platforms’ CEOs Appear Together—What’s the Story Behind This “Newbie” Fund?
Original author: Nicky, Foresight News
The two largest competitors in the prediction market space agree on one thing.
On March 23, according to Fortune magazine, Kalshi early employees Adhi Rajaprabhakaran and Noah Zingler-Sternig are launching a venture capital fund named 5c (c) Capital, aiming to raise up to $35 million to invest in prediction market startups, with the first close expected within the next month.
This fund has received joint investment from Tarek Mansour, CEO of Kalshi, and Shayne Coplan, CEO of Polymarket—a rare collaboration between the CEOs of two leading platforms, marking a milestone in the prediction market space.
In addition to the CEOs of Kalshi and Polymarket, early supporters of the fund include venture capital giant Marc Andreessen (participating through the Moneta Luna fund), Ribbit Capital founder Micky Malka, and former Multicoin Capital co-founder Kyle Samani.
Marc Andreessen is a co-founder of a16z, and Kyle Samani announced on February 5 of this year that he was stepping down from his position at Multicoin Capital and exiting the firm; their involvement underscores the fund’s uniqueness and significance. Elena Silenok, founder and managing partner of Moneta Luna, expressed full confidence in Adhi’s investment capabilities. Kyle stated in his announcement that the coming years will be critical for building infrastructure around prediction markets.
The competitive relationship between Kalshi and Polymarket is no secret. The former pursues a regulatory-compliant path under the CFTC, while the latter enters the market with a crypto-native approach; the two platforms have long been at odds in user acquisition, market share, and regulatory negotiations. However, when early employees of Kalshi went out to raise funds, both CEOs chose to appear together on the list of investors.
The logic behind this move is not complicated. The explosive growth of prediction markets has surpassed everyone’s expectations: Kalshi’s valuation has surged from $2 billion in June 2025 to $22 billion in March, and Polymarket received a $2 billion strategic investment from Intercontinental Exchange in October 2025, now valued at $20 billion.
But the industry’s growth bottlenecks are becoming increasingly apparent—such as insufficient market maker depth, lack of index products, and fragmented infrastructure—none of which can be solved by a single platform alone. Perhaps, from the perspective of the two CEOs, supporting a fund focused on ecosystem infrastructure is more valuable than continuing to compete and exhaust resources within the existing lanes. Instead of working in isolation, it’s better to collaborate and grow the pie together.
The name 5c(c) Capital derives from Section 5c(c) of the Commodity Exchange Act, titled "New Contracts, New Rules." The fund's official website explains that this naming reflects its core philosophy: enduring innovation arises from the combination of novel ideas and regulated frameworks. Multiple media outlets have described this fund as the first dedicated VC fund in the history of prediction markets.
According to the fundraising documents, the fund plans to invest in approximately 20 companies over the next two years, including market makers for prediction markets, index design tools, and other infrastructure projects around the event contracts ecosystem.
Market makers are the core of liquidity in prediction markets. Current open interest in prediction markets has reached $924 million, but many contracts still suffer from wide bid-ask spreads and insufficient depth. Professional market makers provide continuous quotes for various event contracts, reducing trading costs for users and enhancing market efficiency.
The index design tool is key to upgrading prediction markets from "single-event betting" to composable financial products. Just as traditional financial markets have indices like the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100, prediction markets also need standardized index products to help users track the overall performance of a category of event contracts. The infrastructure layer encompasses a range of supporting systems, including order book design, clearing mechanisms, and compliance frameworks.
These components together form the "upstream and downstream" of the prediction market — a complete ecosystem, not just a few trading platforms.
5c (c) Capital was co-founded by two early employees of Kalshi. Adhi Rajaprabhakaran serves as a founding managing partner; he joined Kalshi’s affiliated market maker in 2022 as the team’s second professional trader, bringing over five years of experience in prediction market trading. He also runs the Substack newsletter “50¢ Dollars,” focused on regulatory and business analysis of prediction markets, and hosts a related podcast. Adhi holds a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Texas at Austin and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Data Science from Michigan State University.
Noah Zingler-Sternig serves as a Founding General Partner and previously worked as Head of Operations at Kalshi, overseeing projects such as market support, trader services, and Robinhood integration. His experience in prediction markets dates back to high school (around 2017), when he earned over $100,000 trading prediction markets to pay for college tuition. Noah graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Investments, and Banking, and previously worked as an analyst in the Commercial Banking division at JPMorgan Chase.
Fund advisor Ella Papanek also brings deep expertise in prediction markets. She graduated from Harvard University’s Statistics Department and worked for approximately three years as a quantitative sports trader at Susquehanna International Group (SIG). She is an early tester and active participant in prediction markets such as Augur, Kalshi, and Polymarket. She is also a competitive chess player who once ranked among the top 100 women in the United States.
The rapid expansion of prediction markets has also drawn regulatory attention. As Kalshi and Polymarket expand their platforms into sports betting markets, U.S. Senators Adam Schiff and John Curtis will introduce a bipartisan bill this week aimed at prohibiting entities regulated by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), including Kalshi and Polymarket’s U.S. platforms, from offering contracts related to sports events.
In mid-March, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes filed a criminal lawsuit against Kalshi, alleging that although Kalshi presents itself as a "prediction market," it actually operates an illegal gambling business and accepts bets on Arizona elections, both of which violate Arizona law.
Despite legal challenges, 5c (c) Capital’s fundraising materials still describe prediction markets as an “intergenerational investment opportunity.” The two founders aim to leverage their industry experience and network to provide capital and operational support to this emerging ecosystem. The fund’s website states: “We believe event contracts and prediction markets will transform the way we understand risk-taking.” This perspective is also reflected in data and capital flows.
According to Dune data, as of the time of publication on March 24, the cumulative number of unique users on prediction markets has exceeded 2.8 million, with an open interest of $924 million, a notional trading volume of $152.4 billion, and a total of 672 million trades. Over the past week, the notional trading volume exceeded $6.4 billion.
Kalshi is currently raising a new round of funding at a $22 billion valuation, led by Coatue Management, with over $1 billion raised; its competitor Polymarket is in talks with potential investors at a valuation of approximately $20 billion.
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