Polymarket taps ex-Uber and Bird exec Travis VanderZanden to boost growth

Polymarket has hired Travis VanderZanden to serve as chief growth officer, Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan announced on Wednesday.

VanderZanden is the founder of Bird, the electric scooter sharing startup, and a former executive at Lyft and Uber.

Bird, Uber and Lyft were all part of the so-called "blitzscaling" trend that prioritized extremely rapid growth. Reid Hoffman and Chris Yeh popularized the term blitzscaling to describe startups that raised and spent heavy amounts of venture capital to fund aggressive expansions while competing for market share.

"From being [Travis Kalanick]'s growth lead at Uber, to CRO of Yammer under [David] Sacks, to being founder and CEO of Bird (responsible for both my love of Paris and a couple bloody chins)," Coplan wrote. "When it comes to growing marketplaces, nobody does it better. This time with software instead of hardware. Welcome to the team."

Last year, Polymarket and its chief rival Kalshi saw neck-and-neck growth during the beginning phase of the prediction market expansion. In recent months, however, Kalshi has pulled ahead in terms of growth — largely driven by its popular sports betting markets.

For instance, in July, Polymarket and Polymarket US saw a combined $12.9 billion in volume compared to Kalshi’s $40 billion, according to The Block’s data.

The number of active Polymarket traders has also stayed relatively flat.

This comes as the number of competitors increases, with established crypto exchanges like Coinbase, Crypto.com and Gemini expanding into event markets, and more widely accessible apps like DraftKings and Robinhood seeing massive growth for their offerings.

Both Polymarket and Kalshi have raised significant amounts of funds. Polymarket last week was reportedly in talks to raise a new funding round targeting a valuation of more than $20 billion, while Kalshi eyes a $40 billion valuation.

Of note, regulators are beginning to push back against prediction market expansion — much in the same way certain regions responded to ridesharing and micromobility apps. Dozens of lawsuits have been filed by states and some countries, arguing apps like Polymarket and Kalshi violate local gambling laws.

On Wednesday, the New York City Council announced its probe into four prediction market platforms over their marketing tactics allegedly targeting younger people. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which oversees federally-charted Designated Contract Markets (DCMs), has pushed back in support of federally-regulated platforms with the appropriate licenses.