The Clearing Company has secured $15m in seed funding to build an onchain prediction market platform that will compete with Kalshi, Polymarket and others.
The company said in a press release that the round was led by Union Square Ventures and drew participation from Asylum, Coinbase Ventures, Compound, Cursor Capital, Earl Grey, Haun Ventures, Rubik, Variant, and several angel investors.
The start-up was co-founded by Toni Gemayel, formerly head of growth at Polymarket, alongside colleagues with backgrounds in digital markets and blockchain development.
Their new venture aims to juxtapose accessibility for retail users with the complex demands of regulatory oversight, a conundrum that has long challenged the prediction market industry.
Prediction markets, where participants trade contracts based on the outcomes of future events, have historically faced scrutiny due to their overlap with gambling and financial regulation.
The Clearing Company intends to address this by building a platform that allows open participation without compromising compliance.
The founders emphasised in the announcement that the platform will prioritise simplicity in design and usability, with the regulatory framework forming the core of its development process.
While the company has yet to announce a launch date, the newly raised capital will accelerate product design and engineering.
Prediction markets are now ‘news outlets’
The team indicated in its announcement that the immediate onus lies in creating a user-friendly system that aligns with legal requirements while maintaining the permissionless nature that has defined decentralised markets.
In outlining its vision, The Clearing Company traced the history of prediction markets back centuries, referencing examples ranging from wagers on papal succession in ancient Rome to pre-World War II political betting on Wall Street.
The company argued that prediction markets now function as a form of real-time news, producing forecasts that can outperform traditional reporting by forcing participants to stake capital on their insights.
The Clearing Company believes that the next phase of prediction markets will rely less on complex financial mechanics and more on streamlined user experiences.
The press release said: “The next era of prediction markets will be shaped by the collective creativity of the internet. Their power won’t come from complex financial mechanics and clunky user interfaces, but from simplicity and imagination.”
By emphasising accessibility and imagination, the firm hopes to elicit broader engagement from retail participants and establish a regulatory-compliant standard for the sector.