Private Markets: Prediction market unicorns raise funds

This week, the company behind the Canton Network blockchain and a pair of “Insurtech” start-ups were among the notable fundraisers.

In other private company news, start-up prediction market operators Kalshi and Polymarket were each valued at over $1B in new funding rounds.

Some of the biggest capital raises by private companies this week include:

Digital Asset – The company behind the Canton Network raised $135M to promote adoption of what it calls “the only public, permissionless Layer-1 blockchain that offers configurable privacy and institutional-grade compliance at scale.” The funding round was led by DRW Venture Capital and Tradeweb Markets (TW), with participation from numerous investors including Goldman Sachs (GS), which had helped launch the blockchain.

Clearspeed – The company, which provides voice-based risk assessment technology for insurance and claims applications, announced it has secured $60M in Series D funding, bringing the company’s total funding to $110M. The round was led by Align Private Capital, with participation from IronGate Capital Advisors, Bravo Victor Venture Capital, and KBW Ventures.

Ledgebrook – A start-up that specializes in general liability and professional liability insurance products, partnering with various carriers to bring solutions to the excess and surplus market, announced that it has completed the close of an oversubscribed $65M Series C funding round, led by existing investor The Stephens Group.

Niural – The company announced it has raised $31M in a Series A funding round to expand the artificial intelligence capabilities and accelerate the global expansion of its AI-native professional employment organization platform. The round was led by Marathon Management Partners, with participation from existing investors M13, Inspired Capital, Newform Capital and several new strategic investors. Marathon’s Gokul Rajaram, who sits on the boards of Coinbase (COIN), The Trade Desk (TTD), and Pinterest (PINS), joins Niural’s board.

Unicorns to watch this week:

Kalshi – Start-up prediction market Kalshi was valued at $2B in a new funding round, Alexander Osipovic of The Wall Street Journal reports. The company said it raised $185M from investors led by Paradigm which values it at $2B, according the Journal. Kalshi co-founder and CEO Tarek Mansour told the Journal the funding will go to scaling up the start-up’s technology team so it can integrate with more brokers.

Polymarket – the world’s largest prediction market is finalizing a deal to raise more than $200M at a valuation of more than $1B, The Information reported Tuesday. Existing investor Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund is leading the round, the report noted.

Lime – The electric bike and scooter start-up backed by Uber (UBER) has hired investment banks as it makes preparations for an initial public offering that could happen next year, people familiar with the matter told Reuters‘ Echo Wang and Anirban Sen. Goldman Sachs (GS) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM) have been retained to help with the stock market launch, one of the sources indicated.

Xero – The fintech company has agreed to acquire bill payments platform Melio in a cash and stock deal valued at $2.5B. Xero CEO Sukhinder Singh Cassidy said: “We’re thrilled to announce we’re acquiring Melio, a leading US B2B payments platform that strongly aligns with our 3×3 strategy and US growth ambitions.”

“Private Markets” is The Fly’s new recurring series of stories on the latest moves in the private sector, largest unicorn companies and initial public offerings to watch. Fly subscribers, add $PRIVATE to your portfolio for alerts on breaking news in the startup and venture capital space.