Novig secures $75m to scale its peer-to-peer sports prediction platform across the United States

What began as a student project at Harvard has grown into one of the most ambitious Nigerian co-founded plays in the evolving U.S. sports prediction market, with Novig now valued at half a billion dollars and setting its sights on nationwide expansion.

The sports prediction platform has raised $75 million in fresh funding to accelerate its growth across the United States, underscoring rising investor confidence in alternative betting and prediction models. The round was led by Pantera Capital and reflects a broader shift in how capital is flowing into platforms that sit at the intersection of finance, technology, and sports.

Founded in 2021 by Kelechi Ukah and Jacob Fortinsky, Novig was built around a simple but disruptive premise: eliminating the bookmaker’s advantage. Rather than acting as the house, the platform enables users to trade predictions directly with one another in a peer-to-peer marketplace. By removing the traditional “vig,” Novig positions itself less as a sportsbook and more as a trading exchange shaped by market demand.

The company is prioritising scale over immediate monetisation as Chief Executive Officer Jacob Fortinsky has said revenue generation will take a back seat until the platform reaches significantly higher levels of activity. Novig currently processes around $300 million in monthly trading volume, but its long-term benchmark is $1 billion per month before monetisation becomes a major focus. When that stage arrives, the company plans to earn primarily from institutional traders and liquidity providers rather than everyday users.

Operating in a competitive and fast-evolving sector, Novig is up against well-capitalised rivals and established sportsbook brands experimenting with prediction-style products. While Novig still trails larger competitors in brand visibility, its leadership believes its growth trajectory and commission-free structure give it room to carve out a meaningful share of the market.

The newly raised capital will be channelled into expanding the company’s footprint as plans include increased marketing spend, continued hiring, and the introduction of a loyalty programme designed to deepen user engagement. Over the past year, Novig has expanded its workforce from just 14 employees to about 50, mirroring the steady rise in activity on the platform.

With total funding of $108 million and a valuation of $500 million, Novig represents a growing wave of Nigerian-linked technology companies building globally relevant products from unconventional starting points. 

As regulatory clarity improves and competition intensifies, the company is positioning itself as a challenger determined to reshape how sports predictions are traded in the United States and to demonstrate how African-founded ideas can scale at the highest levels of global markets.