Polymarket valued at $21bn in $1bn round led by Trump Jr.'s 1789 Capital
Polymarket raised $1 billion at a $21 billion valuation in a round led by 1789 Capital, the investment firm headed by Donald Trump Jr. The funding, reported in late September, follows 1789 Capital's first fund success and comes as the firm pursues $3 billion for a second vehicle. The deal marks a sharp step up for the CFTC-regulated prediction markets platform, which has drawn mainstream attention through political and economic event contracts.
The $21 billion tag lands just below Kalshi's $40 billion ask from five days prior, turning a funding gap into a direct arms race. For Polymarket, the money must close two deficits at once: Kalshi's larger balance sheet and its faster sports-vertical rollout this football season. Trump Jr.'s firm is itself leveraging the Polymarket halo to triple its second-fund target to $3 billion, so both parties are using each other's momentum to reprice upward.
The $1 billion in fresh capital gives Polymarket room to match Kalshi's market-making depth or fund a comparable sports product sprint. If the spend goes to brand rather than liquidity, Kalshi's $750 million head start in raw capital will widen the spread advantage that determines where institutional flow lands. Jenson's recent hire as CFO suggests the board wants disciplined capital deployment, not logo buys. The next quarterly volume figures will show which platform converted funding into sticky market share.
Polymarket joins Kalshi in the billion-dollar raise tier this quarter, as the two CFTC-registered platforms race to lock in institutional capital before football-season volume peaks settle market share.