Kalshi Valuation Reaches $2 Billion Following $185 Million Funding Round
Posted on: June 26, 2025, 02:49h.
Last updated on: June 26, 2025, 03:10h.
- Several investors participated in Series C funding round
- CEO Mansour says Kalshi is one of the fastest-growing companies in the US
Prediction markets giants Kalshi announced Wednesday that it raised $185 million, pushing its valuation to $2 billion.
The Series C funding round was led by Paradigm with participation from Bond Capital, Multicoin, Neo, Peng Zhao, and Sequoia. It’s the seventh capital raise for New York-based Kalshi since 2019 and the first since a Series B round in January 2022, according to PitchBook data. The first four rounds consisted of incubator funding and three seed capital raises. Co-founder and CEO Tarek Mansour said Kalshi attracts talent not because of its financial position, but because of its mission.
People choose to work at Kalshi not because of the money we’ve raised, but because of our ambition: build the most important financial market on the planet,” he wrote on X.
In a media interview, Mansour noted Kalshi fights for talent with Silicon Valley and Wall Street, and because the futures exchange can’t compete with hedge funds on salary, employee equity compensation is a significant part of some staffers’ pay packages.
Sports Betting World Eyeing Kalshi Capital Raise
Mansour told CNBC the fresh capital will be used for hiring, to meet rising demand from brokerage firms that want to integrate Kalshi offerings on their platforms, and to increase market offerings.
Kalshi boosting its menu of yes/no derivatives contracts could be the issue to which the sports betting industry pays the most attention. Prediction market operators are rattling the industry, regulators, and tribal gaming entities because companies the exchanges are offering sports event contracts in all 50 states, and doing so without state gaming licenses.
That’s invited numerous state-level legal challenges against Kalshi, which believes it will be vindicated because it’s regulated at the federal level. However, some sports betting industry observers believe prediction market firms could pose a significant competitive threat if those companies start offering in-game yes/no contracts and parlays.
It’s not clear if Kalshi is planning to use a portion of the Series C capital for those purposes, but there’s no denying the company’s wagering menu has ballooned in a short time. Mansour said Kalshi offers 1,500 markets, up from just 80 last October.
Kalshi Capital Raise Follows Polymarket
News of Kalshi’s capital raise emerged a day after reports surfaced indicating that rival Polymarket is poised to raise $200 million at a valuation of $1 billion. Billionaire and current investor Peter Thiel is rumored to be leading that funding round for Polymarket.
Contracts on Polymarket are purchased via the Polygon cryptocurrency, which is based on the Ethereum blockchain. Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin was one of the participants in a $45 million Series B funding round for Polymarket in May 2024. That announcement included mention of a previously undisclosed $25 million fundraising, bringing the total to $70 million.
With Kalshi and Polymarket each sporting valuations of at least $1 billion, both are considered unicorns – closely held companies with private market valuations of at least $1 billion.
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