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How can a nascent prediction market company gain traction against established competitors like Kalshi and Polymarket? Bring in Hollywood's Sydney Sweeney. The 29-year-old actress starred in Novig's "Just Sports" racy ad campaign in which she highlighted the prediction platform's focus on sports event contracts. Novig launched as a federally regulated prediction market in early August and unveiled its provocative ad on Sept. 9. "No betting on wars or deaths, and no politics," Sweeney said in the campaign video, explaining how Novig avoids offering event contracts related to these topics. That feature motivated the actress to approach Novig about taking an equity stake in the company, said Jacob Fortinsky, the company's co-founder. The company did not respond to a question on the size of the star's stake. Between 20 days before and after the campaign launch, Novig's trading volume soared by nearly 94% and first-time depositors surged by more than 218%, Fortinsky exclusively shared with CNBC. Active users also climbed 96% month over month and 260% year over year in September while app downloads jumped by more than 187%. Fortinsky said he did not expect the ad, along with the official start of the NFL season, to draw in this much volume and this many first-time users. Backlash against 'Just Sports' ad Those numbers came with a catch. How Sweeney relayed the platform's message drew backlash from some female athletes, who said that the advertisement hurt progress on the perception of women in sports. Fortinsky said the ad's purpose was not about representing female athletes but to drill down what Novig provides. He added he respected the opinions circulated around the advertisement and highlighted he and the Novig team are fans of women's sports. "Ultimately, I think we have nothing to apologize for and are very proud of the work that we did," Fortinsky said. "We honestly were very happy with … how positive the overall reception of the campaign was." The Sydney Sweeney ad is not the first time the platform made headlines. Shortly after Novig launched, the company slapped multiple states with lawsuits, asserting states cannot regulate the platform's sports event contracts. Further, Novig only allows users aged 21 years and over on its platform, even as it may lose revenue by limiting its user base. Kalshi and Polymarket U.S. allow users above age 18. These business decisions tie back to the company's culture of taking leaps in a fast-paced industry, Fortinsky said. "We have to be willing to take outsized risk relative to the size of the company, doing that in a responsible way, of course," he said. "I think we will continue to embody that aggressive risk-taking culture." The company is raising funding at a $2 billion valuation, The Wall Street Journal reported. In February, Novig raised a $75 million Series B, which valued the company at $500 million, Forbes reported. Novig did not comment on how much capital it will raise in this new round, nor did it share which investors are participating. Disclosure: CNBC and Kalshi have a commercial relationship that includes customer acquisition and a minority investment.
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