Take it to the BVNK

Top News

• BVNK has suitors: Fortune reports that both the crypto exchange Coinbase and payment giant Mastercard have expressed interest in purchasing BVNK, a London-based stablecoin platform founded in 2021. The company uses stablecoins to ease and facilitate cross-border transactions, exchanges between global treasuries, and similar scenarios. They’re valued at around $750 million, following a $50 million raise last December. Coinbase was among those investors, as was Mastercard’s long-time rival, Visa. It’s not terribly surprising that major payment players are sniffing around stablecoin acquistions. Recall that Stripe acquired stablecoin startup Bridge for $1.1 billion just about one year ago.

• Prezent for inspection: Bay Area startup Prezent markets a proprietary AI-powered presentation-builder specifically to large corporations in the life sciences and technology industries. That focus helps to distinguish them a BIT from the many other players in the “AI-generated PowerPoints” field (including friend of the pod, Gamma), which are typically aimed more at individuals or small businesses. (They’re planning to expand soon into finance and manufacturing as well.) The company just raised a $30 million round led by Multiplier Capital, Greycroft and others, bringing their total raise to $74 million to date and valuing them at a robust $400 million.

• Campus taps Meta vet: The education startup — which has a heavy hitting roster of backers including OpenAI chief Sam Altman and NBA icon Shaquille O’Neal — is attempting to disrupt the community college system. It offers accredited associate degree programs, with a line-up of adjunct professors borrowed from major universities like Stanford, Princeton, and NYU. With 3,000 enrolled students — many of them paying $7,320 per year — they’ve already got some traction behind the concept. This week, Campus hired former Meta AI VP Jerome Pesenti to lead its tech team, and as part of the deal, it acquired Pesenti’s platform, Sizzle AI for an undisclosed amount. Sizzle’s AI-generated educational content will apparently be integrated into the Campus platform.

TWiST 500

It's a HUGE news week for TWiST 500 prediction markets, as the concept seems finally poised to truly enter the mainstream. (Who could have seen this coming?)

First up is Kalshi, America’s largest currently operating example, which controls about 60% of the nation’s total prediction market activity to date. The platform got a huge boost this year after being featured in a number of third-party investment apps and brokerages like Robinhood and Webull, which makes placing wagers as simple as picking up a few shares of Apple or Netflix. They’re is on track to score about $50 billion in trading volume this year, up from just $300 million in 2024.

That kind of growth earns you attention, and this week, Kalshi announced $300 million in new funding at a giant $5 billion valuation, from previous investors Sequoia plus newcomers like Andreessen Horowitz.

Kalshi’s momentum is undeniable but it may soon face its biggest challenge to date: Polymarket. The infamous and iconic prediction market made a splashy US debut in 2020, earning headlines for predicting the results of that year’s presidential election. But it hasn’t been operating in the US since 2022, when it was fined $1.4 million by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for offering illegal binary options contracts and operating an unregistered swaps platform.

Now that the CFTC and Department of Justice have ended their inquiries, the door is opened for PM to make a glorious stateside return. The tantalizing promise of American Polymarket prompted Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company that owns the New York Stock Exchange, to drop $2 billion on the company in exchange for a 20% ownership stake.

Despite this frothiness, skepticism nonetheless remains around the prediction market business and how it should be overseen and regulated. Kalshi is currently suing the state of Ohio, which claims the platform violates state law by operating without a sports gaming license. The company argues that their business is legal on a federal level, thus allowing them to side-step state regulations.

Also this week, a Polymarket predicting this year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner has raised some eyebrows. A select group of users placed large wagers that Venezuelan politician and activist Maria Corina Machado was going to secure the prize a full 11 hours before her name was formally announced. The government of Norway is investigating potential leaks that could have influenced the wagers. Is it still insider trading if it’s a prediction market, and not technically sports gambling? These are questions we’ll soon have to figure out! – Lon

A message from Sentry

Your team should be focused on shipping features — not chasing down bugs. - New users get 3 months free of the Business plan which covers 150k errors. Go to http://sentry.io/twist and use the code TWIST

This Week in Startups

E2190: Zach Dell joins Jason and Alex LIVE from the floor of Nasdaq, to talk about Base Power’s new $1 billion investment, and the challenges of making their batteries deep in the heart of Texas. Plus, it turns out Tesla is not releasing an upside-down fan car… We’re checking out what they actually announced. Also, is Tim Cook LEAVING Apple? And who might replace him? We consider the possibilities.

E2189: On TWiST, we’re considering the latest OpenAI mega-deal with AMD, and ponder just who is paying who for what in all of these extremely circular compute-for-cash agreements. PLUS Jason thinks Tesla might FINALLY be releasing the infamous Roadster 2, Jeff Bezos’ long-ago “datacenters in space” prediction might be company true, we investigate what Figure’s robots are REALLY doing for BMW, and Jason and Alex try their hand at Y Combinator’s new interactive gaming feature, YC Arena.

E2188: The TWiST Team has spent some serious time playing with the Sora app now, and they have PRESSING feedback for Team OpenAI. Hear all about their experiences in the #1 iOS Store app, PLUS the latest on the Brave browser, why Jason would sell his OpenAI shares as quickly as possible, Apple pulls the ICEBlock app amid criticism, AND one founder’s elite coffee shop trick that landed him three VC intros.

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Founder U is Coming to the MENA Region!

Our 12-week pre-accelerator—designed to help early-stage founders build and grow—kicks off this fall in Saudi Arabia. The first cohort launches in Riyadh on November 3rd, followed by in-person and virtual sessions throughout the program. Founders in MENA: this is your chance to turn your idea into a business and get world-class insights on building a successful startup. Apply today: https://mena.founder.university/

SF Live-Work Space Now Available

Need a flexible living and working environment in San Francisco? This thoughtfully designed loft-style residence at 787 Bryant St., the heart of the vibrant SOMA district and the city’s creative hub, is now available for rent or purchase. Check the listing for more details.

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