Hubdub claims it makes “news more exciting” by letting users stake virtual dollars on the outcomes of real news events.

The Series A funding round will be used to enable Hubdub to focus on growing its partnership base, which reports say includes Reuters, and to develop functionality to allow media partners to carry Hubdub prediction markets on their site.

The funding was also backed by a group of angel investors, including Rikki Tahta, CEO of Covestor.com, Simon Murdoch, CEO of friendsabroad.com and Tim Jackson, founder of QXL.com.

As part of the deal, Marc Moens of Pentech Ventures will join Hubdub’s board.

Moens said: “The news industry is currently seeing a structural change to its business. While off-line ad revenues are slumping, news media companies are aiming to build web businesses with significant user engagement. We see Hubdub as a key enabler for media companies to build that engagement around their content.”