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, when it also raised $1 billion. That funding round was led by Paradigm, with participation from veteran venture capital firms including Sequoia Capital, ARK Invest, Andreessen Horowitz and CapitalG, Alphabet’s growth-equity arm.
The New York-based company declined to comment when contacted by CoinDesk.
The new investment highlights investor interest in the fast-growing market despite criticism from lawmakers regarding insider trading and manipulation. In February, trading volume on the platform exceeded $10 billion, or 12 times the level just six months earlier, KalshiData shows. Its biggest rival, Polymarket, has grown at a similar pace, although it focuses primarily outside the US. Kalshi’s annual revenue is currently $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 permission to offer trading on the outcome of the 2024 US presidential election. The company is overseen by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which allows it to operate nationwide under federal regulations, unlike traditional gambling companies that correspond to state regulators.
Still, prediction market providers are facing pushback in over a dozen state actions, with state-level regulators claiming they have jurisdiction over at least sports-related betting products.
Last month, Kalshi reported that he exposed and punished two users for insider trading, including an editor for popular social media star MrBeast. The company also disclosed at the time more than a dozen active insider trading cases among 200 it investigated.
On Thursday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Kalshi’s attempt to stave off an expected temporary restraining order from Nevada, paving the way for a ban on its operations in the state. On Wednesday, Arizona charged Kalshi with 20 felony counts, accusing it of operating an illegal gambling business and offering to campaign in the state.
