Kalshi Inc. raised more than $1 billion in a funding round led by Coatue Management, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The round valued the prediction market platform at $22 billion, Bloomberg said, double the valuation of the previous round in December, where it also raised $1 billion. This funding round was led by Paradigm, with participation from seasoned venture capital firms including Sequoia Capital, ARK Invest, Andreessen Horowitz and CapitalG, the growth equity arm of Alphabet.
The New York-based company declined to comment when approached by CoinDesk.
The new investment highlights investor interest in the fast-growing market, despite criticism from lawmakers over insider trading and manipulation. In February, trading volume on the platform exceeded $10 billion, 12 times its level six months earlier, according to KalshiData. Its biggest rival, Polymarket, has grown at a similar rate, although it is primarily focused outside the United States. Kalshi’s annualized revenue currently stands at $1.5 billion, according to the Bloomberg report.
Kalshi, which is regulated as a financial exchange, offers contracts linked to the outcome of a wide range of real-world events. It was founded in 2018 and exploded in popularity when it received approval to offer trading on the results of the 2024 U.S. presidential election. The company is overseen by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which allows it to operate nationally under federal rules, unlike traditional gaming companies that answer to state regulators.
Yet predictions market providers face retaliation in more than a dozen state actions, with state-level regulators arguing that they have jurisdiction over at least sports-related betting products.
Last month, Kalshi reported discovering and penalizing two users for insider trading activities, including an editor of popular social media star MrBeast. At the time, the company also revealed more than a dozen active insider trading cases among the 200 it investigated.
On Thursday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Kalshi’s attempt to avoid an expected temporary restraining order from Nevada, paving the way for a ban on its operations in the state. Arizona indicted Kalshi on 20 counts on Wednesday, accusing him of operating an illegal gaming business and offering election betting in the state.
