New Jersey-based Prophet Exchange has secured a new funding worth over $10m to support the development of its platform ahead of future state launches.
What is Prophet Exchange?
Prophet Exchange, founded by Dean Sisun and Jake Benzaquen in 2018, launched in New Jersey in August 2022, becoming the first regulated peer-to-peer (P2P) betting exchange available in the US in the process.
The firm, with a product built on its own proprietary technology, “is uniquely situated to capitalise on the rapidly changing and expanding sports betting market,” it said.Prophet Exchange currently offers P2P betting on moneyline, spread and total markets for NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB and NCAA football and basketball games.
The firm plans to introduce further betting markets on soccer, tennis, golf, UFC and other tier-two sports “in the immediate future,” it added.
While betting exchanges have long been popular in Europe and the UK, they remain a lesser known product in US betting states.
Challenges include a lack of cross-state liquidity sharing and limited understanding among US bettors about the differences between traditional sportsbooks and betting exchanges. Stateside competitors include Sporttrade, Mojo and Novig, which is still in beta testing.
New funding round
The latest funding round has seen the business secure upwards of $10m from a trio of new investors.
They are MIXI Inc, a Japanese company with subsidiaries in the sports, lifestyle, digital entertainment and investment sectors, Ninjabet.com, a US-based matched betting community, and derivatives trading firm Chicago Trading Company.
Prophet Exchange said the investment represents validation for its P2P exchange betting model, despite challenging conditions across financial markets in 2023.The funding will be used to continue the development of Prophet’s platform, allowing the business to continue working towards achieving profitability.
Increased liquidity, an improved roster of betting markets, better payments technology and a move into in-play betting are also in the firm’s immediate pipeline, it said.
From there, the business will be prepared to roll out its technology into new markets as the costs of licensing fees and market access agreements continue to come down, it added.
Management commentary
“As excited as we are to enter the emerging market of sports betting, we are a tech company at heart,” said Prophet Exchange co-founder and CEO Dean Sisun.
“We are a scrappy, lean and agile firm in a sea of behemoths, which allows us to respond to changes and capitalise on opportunities at a moment’s notice.
“This round of funding will let us continue as disruptors in the betting space and push our fast-moving product forward in this blossoming market,” he concluded.
Co-founder and COO Benzaquen added: “To be frank, something has always bothered us about ‘the house always wins.’
“At Prophet, we win only when the user wins. As the first pro-consumer betting exchange in the country, we believe it’s time for the house to lose a few hands.”
