Exclusive: The CEOs of Kalshi and Polymarket are arch rivals—but are investing in the same $35 million prediction market VC fund

The CEOs of Kalshi and Polymarket are locked in a brutal fight to dominate the white-hot prediction market sector. But, in at least one instance, the two have put competition aside, and each has invested in an upcoming venture firm led by two early Kalshi employees. The fund, named 5c(c) Capital, is raising up to $35 million to invest in prediction market startups, according to a pitch document seen by Fortune.

The new venture firm’s name is a reference to a clause in the piece of legislation that outlined the federal regulation of commodities and derivatives, a category that now includes prediction markets. The fund’s partners are Adhi Rajaprabhakaran, the second trader hired to work at Kalshi’s affiliated market maker, and Noah Zingler-Sternig, Kalshi’s former head of operations.

In addition to Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour and Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan, the fund’s early backers are a star-studded slate of venture investors, according to the document. They include the venture giant Marc Andreessen, through the fund Moneta Luna; Micky Malka, the founder of the fintech investor Ribbit Capital; and Kyle Samani, the former managing partner at the crypto VC Multicoin Capital.

Rajaprabhakaran, one of the founding partners of 5c(c) Capital, declined to comment. A spokesperson for Marc Andreessen’s venture firm Andreessen Horowitz declined to comment. Polymarket and Malka didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

A Kalshi ...