Polymarket, Nasdaq Private Market Launch Private Markets

Polymarket and Nasdaq Private Market announced Tuesday the launch of prediction markets tied to pre-IPO companies. The markets let users buy and sell contracts that resolve based on fundraising rounds, valuation changes and other corporate milestones.

The new markets will use Nasdaq Private Market’s data and market infrastructure to create contracts that reflect expectations about events at startups and late-stage private companies. Contracts can cover the size or completion of funding rounds, changes in reported valuation and the occurrence of specified corporate events.

Trades on those contracts will generate market prices that reflect participant expectations about outcomes and potential valuations. Those prices are intended to offer a continuously updating signal where public valuation data are limited.

Nasdaq Private Market will provide the underlying data and support the technical operations of the markets. The companies expect the partnership to broaden appeal to financially oriented users and to make event-based information more tradeable in private capital markets.

Polymarket cited the growth of privately held, high-value companies as a driver of demand, noting there are nearly 1,600 unicorns worldwide with a combined valuation above $5 trillion. The platform noted access to those firms remains largely restricted to venture and private equity investors.

Retail traders currently generate most prediction-market volume; an April report from Polymarket found retail participants accounted for roughly 80% of trading. Industry participants report gradual growth in institutional activity as market infrastructure improves and regulators review related products and contract mechanics.

Polymarket and Nasdaq Private Market did not publish a detailed list of contracts at launch. The partnership will allow rolling introductions of new event-based markets tied to private-company milestones.