Ep. 187: Finding a forever home as a prediction market w/ Jake Benzaquen from ProphetX

Ep. 187 features Jake Benzaquen, Co-Founder and CEO of ProphetX, for a deep dive into the company’s latest evolution from regulated exchange to sweepstakes model, to now filing with the CFTC to operate as a fully regulated marketplace for sports event contracts. Hear him discuss:

• The journey from launching in New Jersey as an OSB to building a national presence under the sweepstakes model
• Why ProphetX is now pivoting to the CFTC model and what it means for the future
• Lessons from scaling a sports betting exchange across multiple states
• How product validation and customer feedback shaped ProphetX’s direction
• Building an RFQ (Request for Quote) system for parlays, and why it’s a game-changer
• Why ProphetX will focus on sports-first markets, and why it's not launching with political or pop culture markets
• The two primary reasons why they decided to launch without an affiliated trading arm
• Competing with industry giants like Kalshi, Polymarket, and DraftKings through product innovation
• The growing cultural influence of prediction markets
• How distribution partnerships and B2B integrations will drive user acquisition
• Jake’s reflections on seven years of startup grit, team growth, and finding motivation for the next phase

Catch the video version of this episode here.

Learn more 👇

➡️ ProphetX website

➡️ Jake Benzaquen on Linkedin

📩 Get the top headlines from the industry's most promising growth-stage companies every week—totally free! Subscribe to the Betting Startups newsletter here: https://news.bettingstartups.com/

---

This podcast is presented by Optimove, the #1 CRM Marketing solution for the iGaming industry. Since 2012, Optimove has served iGaming Operators from startups to industry leaders. Today, 4 out of the Top 5 US Operators Personalize Player Experiences with Optimove. iGaming operators know their growth journey begins and continues with Optimove, the #1 CRM Marketing solution for the iGaming industry.