On Aug. 11, after announcing the close of an $18 million Series A funding round, Jacob Fortinsky, the CEO and co-founder of no-commission, peer-to-peer sports prediction market platform Novig told InGame that the company intends to seek Commodity Futures Trading Commission approval to offer its sports markets.
Novig is currently available in 40 states, using a sweepstakes model in which users can exchange won virtual currency for cash prizes. If the sports prediction platform were to garner CFTC approval as a Designated Contract Market (DCM), it would be able to allow users to receive real money directly from their successful trades, without the sweepstakes element.
But Fortinsky told InGame that receiving CFTC approval and utilizing the sweepstakes model would not necessarily be “mutually exclusive,” though he didn’t explain how or why.
CFTC has yet to approve a sports-only prediction market
The CFTC-approved prediction platform Kalshi, which offers sports markets alongside ones related to economics, politics and culture, is currently embroiled in legal challenges from a few different states and Native American tribes. Those parties want to prohibit Kalshi from being able to offer sports markets in their jurisdictions, saying they are essentially illegal sports betting.
Novig may be hedging on the outcome of those legal cases. If Kalshi prevails and can continue offering sports outcome markets in all 50 states, Novig — with CFTC approval — could switch to real-money trading on those markets. If sports prediction markets are limited by local regulators, Novig would still have the sweepstakes model to fall back on in most states.
Novig more resembles betting exchange Sporttrade than Kalshi or Polymarket. Sporttrade operates under sports betting licenses in five states. The CFTC has never granted DCM status to a sports-only prediction market like Novig.
Novig raised $18 million in Series A funding
Earlier on Aug. 11, Novig announced its Series A funding of $18 million. The funding round was led by venture capital firm Forerunner and also included previous Novig investors Y Combinator, NFX, Perceptive Ventures, and Gaingels.
@Novig just raised an $18M Series A round led by @forerunner.
Here’s how we became the fastest-growing sports prediction market in America 🧵 pic.twitter.com/NsHsRwB8Ec
— Jacob Fortinsky (@j__fort) August 11, 2025
In the press release announcing the funding, Forerunner Principal Fawzi Itani praised Novig for bringing “the most sophisticated and nuanced perspective to sports prediction markets.”
“Novig sits at the center of several key secular trends in gaming and entertainment, namely that consumers increasingly are spending their time, energy, and attention with financial products,” Itani continued. “The Novig team … not only deeply understand their target customer, but are building a system that is more fair, community-oriented, rewarding, and well, fun.”
Novig announced $6.4 million in seed funding in August of 2023. That funding round was led by Lux Capital, with participation from multiple firms and individual investors, including Hall of Fame NFL quarterback Joe Montana and Arash Ferdowsi, co-founder of Dropbox.
Funding to be used to add new sports, staffing and features
Novig plans to use the new funding to add new sports and expand existing markets, plus add new features, like head-to-head trading, group contests, and leaderboards. Novig also plans to expand its “engineering, product, and growth teams” and launch a new web app (trading is currently only available through Novig’s mobile app for Apple and Android devices).
In the funding press release, Fortinsky said Novig is “the #1 sports prediction market in the US,” and that the company’s fast growth is based on having a strong product and passionate trading community.
“The support from some of the world’s leading tech investors, who believe in our mission to democratize sports betting for good, is a powerful endorsement — not just of what we’ve built, but of the future we’re creating,” Fortinsky added. “This funding will allow us to scale our mission across more sports, more formats, and ultimately, to more users.”
In a blog post, Fortinsky says that Novig’s monthly trading volume has increased 100x since launching last year. He also says Novig has surpassed 2 billion in annualized volume of Novig Cash.
What is Novig?
Novig was initially licensed to operate in Colorado in 2023, launching as a more traditional sportsbook in early 2024. But, while awaiting approval for its betting exchange structure from the Colorado Division of Gaming, Novig ceased operations to work on a new framework, according to according to Next.io.
Novig re-launched in September of 2024 as a sweepstakes sports prediction market/betting exchange, where users can trade on different sports prediction markets with two forms of virtual currency. Novig Coins are used to trade just for fun, with no opportunity for cash prizes. Novig Cash is available for free through promotions and with the purchase of Coins. Novig Cash can be redeemed for real money once a trader has accumulated at least 20, at a redemption rate of 1 Novig Cash: $1.
When it initially launched, Novig was available in 42 states. Today, Novig’s sports markets are available to users in 40 states. The states in which Novig is currently not available, due to regulatory and legal concerns related to sweepstakes contests, are Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Louisiana, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, Tennessee, and Washington. That means Novig is available in several states, including California and Texas, that do not currently allow traditional sports betting.
Novig lets users trade on outcomes across a decent range of sports, including the NFL, MLB, NBA, WNBA, UFC, college football and basketball, tennis, and golf.
Unlike the federally-regulated prediction platform Kalshi, which currently only offers moneyline-equivalent and futures trading on sports outcomes, Novig’s markets more resemble those found at traditional sportsbooks. Along with futures and single-game outcomes, users can trade on totals, point spreads, and player, team and game props. Novig also lets users combine trades to create parlays, something Kalshi and other current U.S. platforms have yet to introduce.
