Kalshi in Talks to Raise $1B at $40B Valuation; Sequoia and Wellington Set to Lead

Kalshi is in advanced talks to raise about $1 billion from new and existing investors at a valuation of roughly $40 billion, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. Existing backer Sequoia Capital and Wellington Management are in talks to lead the round, with Tiger Global and Dragoneer Investment Group also in discussions to participate. The financing is expected to close in the coming weeks.

A $40 billion valuation would be about 82% higher than the $22 billion Kalshi secured less than five months ago. In May the company announced a $1 billion Series F led by Coatue, with Sequoia, Andreessen Horowitz, IVP, Paradigm, Morgan Stanley and ARK Invest participating. That round itself doubled the company's valuation from the roughly $11 billion at which it raised in late 2025.

Kalshi's pitch to investors in May rested on volume. The company said annualised trading volume had tripled from $52 billion to $178 billion over six months, that institutional volume was up 800% over the same period, and that it accounted for more than 90% of US prediction market activity. Chief executive Tarek Mansour said at the time that event contracts "could become a trillion-dollar market." Kalshi is regulated by the CFTC as a designated contract market and has been expanding beyond event contracts into broader derivatives, putting it in more direct competition with CME Group and Intercontinental Exchange.

The company has also held early discussions about a potential IPO in the coming years, according to Reuters. Sequoia partner Alfred Lin sits on Kalshi's board.

The raise comes as rival Polymarket seeks about $1 billion of its own. Polymarket has been in talks since August over a round valuing it at more than $20 billion, which had not closed as of this month. Intercontinental Exchange, which committed $2.6 billion to Polymarket, is its largest shareholder. Kalshi's target valuation would put it at close to twice its crypto-native competitor.

The gap reflects Kalshi's regulatory head start in the US. Polymarket's American relaunch has been slower, and Reuters noted the company is facing a CFTC investigation. The two firms' combined fundraising, around $2 billion in a matter of weeks, shows how much capital investors are prepared to commit to event contracts. Kalshi's next test is whether institutional hedging demand grows fast enough to support a valuation that now rivals established exchange operators.