Good News for Sydney Sweeney as Novig Valuation Hits $2 Billion

Novig, one of the fastest-growing prediction market operators, reportedly concluded a financing round valuing the company at $2 billion.

Citing unidentified sources with knowledge of the matter, multiple outlets reported earlier Wednesday that Novig wrapped up a capital raise that values the sports-only yes/no exchange at $2 billion. The reports suggest that investor interest in Novig soared after the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) granted Novig Designated Contract Market (DCM) status in June.

That approval, which is necessary to operate a regulated prediction market in this country, allowed the peer-to-peer sports exchange to operate in nearly all 50 states. Novig is currently live in 47 states with Arizona, Michigan and Nevada being the exceptions.

News of the Novig capital raise arrives seven and a half months after the company wrapped up a Series B funding round in which it raised $75 million at a $500 million valuation. Said another way, Novig’s valuation quadrupled in less than eight months.

A Nice Pay Day for Sydney Sweeney

Novig’s Series B capital raise was led by Pantera Capital with participation from existing investors Forerunner, NFX, and Perceptive Ventures as well as Edge Equity, Makers Fund, and Multicoin Capital. However, none of those firms are as famous as Sydney Sweeney, the actress starring in Novig’s controversial ad campaign.

She’s relevant in this conversation because she didn’t take standard cash compensation for the commercials. Rather, she requested and was granted an undisclosed amount of Novig equity.

While the racy ads have been live for several weeks, it’s still not clear what Sweeney’s stake in Novig is, but even it’s just half a percent, that’d be worth $10 million based on the $2 billion valuation.

Not including the Novig stake, Sweeney’s net worth is estimated to be $40 million to $50 million.

Novig Climbing the Prediction Market Ranks

The extent to which the Sweeney spots are helping may be up for debate, but it cannot be argued that Novig is one of the fastest-growing names in the prediction market industry — a status likely fortified by its sports-only operating model.

More than 250,000 traders across the U.S. have driven $6.5 billion on Novig, according to the company’s website.

Valued at $2 billion, Novig is still small compared to the two largest prediction market operators, which have a combined valuation of $60 billion. Novig’s current valuation likely needs more heft before an initial public offering (IPO) is on the table.

“Novig has not announced any IPO plans despite operating in the high-growth sports betting industry. The company continues to focus on expanding its peer-to-peer betting platform and growing its user base in legal sports betting markets,” according to IPOs.fyi