EDGE Markets raises $29.2mn to support prediction market offering

EDGE Markets on Monday said that it closed a $29.2 million (£21.85 million) Series A funding round, led by New York-based crypto-native investment firm CoinFund. However, the US firm did not disclose its post-funding valuation.

Indicator Ventures, Mantis VC, Stepstone Group, and Bullpen Capital also participated in the funding mop-up.

The US fintech said it will use the funding to introduce EDGE Pro, the first high throughput deposit accounts for market makers that enable seamless, real-time deposits into all Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)-regulated exchanges.

“EDGE Pro solves the two largest friction points for institutional capital to scale: multi-liquidity pool post-execution settlement and margin. To enable this solution, EDGE Markets is actively pursuing both an Introducing Broker and Future Commission Merchant registrations with the National Futures Association,” the New York based firm said.

The registrations will allow EDGE Pro users to execute orders directly through their accounts and conduct post-execution settlement across various liquidity pools to amplify capital efficiencies.

Seni Thomas (pictured), founder and chief executive of EDGE Markets, said: "The core vision of EDGE Markets has always been to decrease friction for capital to flow in regulated markets. With the high velocity growth of prediction markets, we are excited to build and support the core infrastructure for traders to efficiently scale their activity."

The funding will also be utilised to launch EDGE Connect, the industry's first purpose-built payment rail for the regulated gaming and prediction market ecosystems, the US fintech firm said.

“EDGE Connect will replace traditional consumer rails with a real-time network that will deliver significantly lower transaction costs for operators by only charging a fee on net new deposits over a 24-to 48-hour period. EDGE Connect significantly reduces churn costs, eliminates chargebacks, and provides users with a faster, more secure experience,” EDGE Markets explained.

"The biggest moments in prediction markets happen on nights and weekends, exactly when the banking system slows to a crawl. EDGE built the rails to match that reality. We think EDGE becomes the default settlement layer for an entirely new category of financial markets," said Alex Felix, co-founder and managing partner of CoinFund.

Meanwhile, Kalshi in May raised $1 billion Series F funding round at a $22bn valuation, led by US-based investment firm Coatue. The firm said hedge funds, proprietary trading firms and asset managers are increasing use of event contracts for trading and hedging activity.