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 capital arm.
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 about insider trading and manipulation. In February, trading volume on the platform surpassed $10 billion, or 12 times its level just six months earlier, KalshiData shows. Its biggest rival, Polymarket, has grown at a similar pace, although it is primarily focused outside the U.S. 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 tied to the outcome of a wide range of real-world events. It was founded in 2018 and exploded in popularity after receiving permission to offer trading based on the outcome of the 2024 US presidential election. The company is overseen by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), allowing it to operate nationwide under federal regulations, unlike traditional gaming companies that answer to state regulators.
Still, prediction market providers face pushback in more than a dozen state actions, and state-level regulators argue they have jurisdiction over at least sports-related betting products.
Last month, Kalshi reported uncovering and penalizing two users for insider trading activity, including an editor for popular social media star MrBeast. At that time, the company also disclosed more than a dozen active insider trading cases among the 200 it investigated.
On Thursday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied Kalshi’s attempt to avoid an expected temporary restraining order from Nevada, clearing the way for a ban on its operations in the state. On Wednesday, Arizona charged Kalshi with 20 criminal counts, accusing him of operating an illegal gambling business and offering election betting in the state.
