Prophet Exchange – the first fully regulated, peer-to-peer high-frequency sports betting exchange in the U.S. – announced it has raised a new line of funding at more than $10 million. This announcement arrived on the heels of the company’s official launch in August of 2022 and a successful Super Bowl where the company saw over $1 million traded on the event.
Founded by Dean Sisun and Jake Benzaquen a few years ago, Prophet Exchange is an entirely peer-to-peer sports betting platform that matches users’ potential bets with others from across New Jersey. And the benefits of a betting exchange are that each user wins more or loses less on every single bet, there are no limits on the amount of money they’d like to wager, and they can trade in and out of positions on a tight margin. Additionally, users can make offers on outcomes at their desired prices, similar to financial exchanges.
This platform offers money line, spread, and total markets for NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, and NCAA football and basketball games, and will continue to add new sports and markets as the platform scales. Soccer, tennis, golf, UFC, and other Tier 2 sports will also be going live in the immediate future.
As gambling legislation continues to roll out nationwide and change the face of gambling in the U.S., Prophet Exchange is aiming to position itself as the people’s exchange of choice.
While exceedingly common in Europe and abroad, peer-to-peer exchanges have not been present in the U.S. until 2022, which is when Prophet first opened its doors in New Jersey. Rather than developing an app that is similar to a sportsbook operator that charges a large vigorish (or tax) on every bet, Prophet Exchange focuses on a user-friendly system where bettors compete directly with each other. Successful bets are rewarded and losses do not mean a victory for the platform.
Only users within New Jersey can place bets at this time. But users across the country can download the app, view their lines, and learn the ins and outs of peer-to-peer exchanges, free of charge. And Prophet is using this additional line of funding to look inward and develop the best, most innovative product in a rapidly emerging market.
Prophet’s operation started in the United Kingdom in 2018 as it passed all of the necessary licensing and compliance overseas in order to prove its concept before peer-to-peer exchanges were being considered in the United States. And after gaining the relevant experience, the team returned home in 2020 to work with New Jersey regulators for developing exchange rules and regulations in a then-sportsbook-dominated environment.
As for the future, Prophet is aiming to work toward profitability while growing its tech by offering additional pro-consumer pieces like increased liquidity, growing their roster of events, adding smart-wallet technology to let users trade more with less, and moving into in-play betting soon. And from there, Prophet can roll out its proprietary multi-state technology into new markets as licensing fees and market access agreements continue to come down.
KEY QUOTES:
“As excited as we are to enter the emerging market of sports betting, we are a tech company at heart. We are a scrappy, lean, and agile firm in a sea of behemoths, which allows us to respond to changes and capitalize 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.”
“Prophet’s current mission is to dominate the straight bet experience in the U.S. Best-in-market prices, creating offers with requested prices, unlimited action, and frictionless trading in and out of positions with lower capital requirements make up that experience. From there, over the long term, Prophet’s mission will evolve to scaling across states with a suite of unique betting products at a speed unforeseen by our competitors.”
– Dean Sisun, CEO and co-founder
“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.”
– COO and co-founder Jake Benzaquen
