- Series D funding round of $300 million vaults Kalshi valuation to $5 billion
- Prediction markets operator will use capital for international expansion
- Says it’s the fastest growing non-AI tech company
Prediction market Goliath Kalshi said today it finalized a Series D funding round of $300 million, pushing its valuation to $5 billion.
Kalshi wrapped up a $185 million Series C funding round in June valuing the company at $2 billion, meaning that with today’s news, the company’s multiple has swelled 2.5x in just four months. Recent speculation suggested $5 billion was the next destination on Kalshi’s valuation journey.
This latest round, which values Kalshi at $5 billion, was co-led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Sequoia Capital, with significant participation from Paradigm. Additional backers include Coinbase Ventures, General Catalyst, Spark Capital, and CapitalG,” according to a statement.
Kalshi, which means “everything” in Arabic, was cofounded in 2018 by Luana Lopes Lara, now chief operating officer, and current CEO Tarek Mansour.
Kalshi Going Global
News of the Kalshi funding round and freshly elevated valuation arrived three days after New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) owner Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE) took a $2 billion stake in Polymarket, valuing Kalshi’s most direct competitor at up to $10 billion.
Polymarket is waiting for the US government shutdown to end to renter this country, meaning the bulk of its business has long been generated in international markets. That’s not lost on Kalshi, which today unveiled significant ex-US expansion plans.
Kalshi said that for the first time, it’s available to users in over 140 countries, adding that clients from around the world will engage with a “single, unified” liquidity pool. Increased international exposure could boost liquidity in some thinly traded markets while boosting Kalshi’s already soaring volume.
“Prediction markets have always had worldwide relevance. Events don’t stop at borders, and now, neither does trading on them. Whether it’s elections, central bank decisions, sports, or climate, users across continents can trade directly on the outcomes that shape their world,” said Kalshi.
Kalshi Says Its Fastest-Growing Non-AI Tech Firm
The prediction markets operator said the latest funding round was oversubscribed in significant fashion, drawing demand from a who’s who of Silicon Valley and Wall Street. It also noted it’s now the fastest-growing technology company not involved with artificial intelligence (AI).
“Kalshi has become one of the fastest-growing technology companies in the United States, and the fastest-growing company outside of the AI industry. In the past year alone, trading volume has grown 200× and the user base has grown 20×. Kalshi now accounts for over 60 percent of global prediction-market activity, despite previously being confined to the U.S.,” adds the company.
Indeed, at a valuation of $5 billion Kalshi is a unicorn — a private company valued at least $1 billion — but it has a long way to go to crack the top 20 unicorns as its valuation needs to triple to get there.
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