In a rare show of alignment inside the prediction markets sector, the founders of both Kalshi and Polymarket are backing a new venture capital firm focused entirely on companies serving the event contract economy.
The new fund, 5c(c) Capital, was unveiled this week and has support from Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour and Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan, as confirmed by Fortune.
“5c(c) aims to allocate capital and provide expertise to the traders and tool-builders that will shape an entirely new ecosystem,” according to its website.
The fund was founded by Adhi Rajaprabhakaran and Noah Zingler-Sternig, two former early Kalshi employees who are now positioning the firm as a specialist investor in infrastructure for prediction markets.
Rajaprabhakaran previously worked as a professional trader for Kalshi’s affiliated market maker, while Zingler-Sternig served as Kalshi’s head of operations and led the company’s integration with Robinhood.
As founding partners, they are seeking to raise $35m to fund seed and early-stage businesses building tools and systems around event contracts.
The launch was announced on 23 March after a period of fast expansion for the broader sector, according to Fortune. Kalshi and Polymarket remain the two largest names in prediction markets, but they have pursued different paths.
Kalshi has focused on a regulated domestic model in the US, while Polymarket has operated through a crypto-native global approach.
The 5c(c) Capital webpage shows that the fund has also drawn support from a prominent group of backers across venture capital and financial technology.
Among the early names attached to the fund are Marc Andreessen through the Moneta Luna Fund, Micky Malka of Ribbit Capital, and Kyle Samani, formerly of Multicoin Capital.
Other limited partners include Underdog Fantasy CEO Jeremy Levine and Novig CEO Jacob Fortinsky.
5c(c) Capital ready to dominate the sector
That list gives the new fund credibility across both fintech and digital asset circles, and indicates that investor interest in the event contract sector extends beyond the platforms that dominate headlines and into the infrastructure beneath them.
That infrastructure is the central target of 5c(c) Capital’s strategy. The fund plans to invest in roughly 20 companies during the next two years. Its areas of interest include liquidity providers, data distribution, index design, and execution tools.
Those categories point to an effort to strengthen the mechanics of prediction markets rather than simply expand their audience. Liquidity providers are expected to help maintain deeper and more stable order books.
Data distribution tools are intended to improve real-time settlement and outcome verification.
Index design companies would work on methodologies for creating new tradable events, while execution tools could make it easier for traditional brokerages to incorporate prediction markets into existing platforms.
The fund’s name is tied directly to regulation, according to its webpage. 5c(c) Capital takes its name from Section 5c(c) of the Commodity Exchange Act, which is titled “New Contracts, New Rules.”
According to the firm’s stated mission, the reference reflects a belief that long-term innovation in prediction markets depends on the combination of new ideas and workable regulatory structures.
Prediction market segment shows no sign of slowing down
The timing also comes as valuations in the sector have climbed sharply. In the first quarter of 2026, Kalshi reportedly reached a valuation of $22bn. Polymarket also hit a $20bn valuation after securing strategic investment from the Intercontinental Exchange.
Those figures have helped frame prediction markets as one of the more closely watched financial technology segments of the year, particularly as participation, liquidity, and platform visibility have expanded.
In pitch materials, the founders of 5c(c) Capital described event contracts and prediction markets as an “intergenerational investment opportunity” and argued that the category could reshape how risk is understood and traded.
The joint backing from Kalshi and Polymarket also creates an unusual unified front at a time when the industry is facing legal and regulatory pressure in various jurisdictions.
Even without merging their competing platforms or business strategies, the sector’s two most prominent leaders are now backing the same attempt to build the foundation around them.