Kalshi Closes $1 Billion Funding Round at $40 Billion Valuation as Non-Sports Revenue Tops $1 Billion
Key Takeaways
- •Kalshi raised $1 billion in a Series G round co-led by Wellington Management and Sequoia Capital, valuing the company at $40 billion.
- •The company's non-sports markets, covering financial benchmarks and other real-world outcomes, now exceed $1 billion in annualized revenue.
- •The $40 billion valuation represents a sharp rise from the $22 billion valuation set in May during a $1 billion Series F round led by Coatue Management.
- •Kalshi was recently named a preferred prediction market exchange by the NBA and partnered with S&P Dow Jones Indices to bring financial benchmarks to event contracts.
- •Utah filed criminal charges against Kalshi and its co-founders after the CFTC sued to block state enforcement, escalating a dispute over whether sports contracts fall under state gambling laws or federal derivatives regulation.
Prediction market platform Kalshi has closed a $1 billion funding round at a $40 billion valuation, Reuters reported on Thursday, as the company accelerates its expansion beyond sports events into financial markets. Prediction markets let traders buy and sell event contracts whose payouts depend on the outcome of real-world events.
The Series G round was co-led by Wellington Management and Sequoia Capital. Kalshi also said its non-sports markets now generate more than $1 billion in annualized revenue, according to The Wall Street Journal. Non-sports markets cover event contracts on financial benchmarks and other real-world outcomes — the areas where Kalshi is pushing beyond its sports events.
News of the financing first surfaced in September, when Kalshi was reported to be seeking $1 billion at the same valuation. Thursday's announcement confirmed the round's completion.
The new valuation marks a sharp increase from May, when Kalshi completed a $1 billion Series F round led by Coatue Management at a $22 billion valuation. At the time, the company reported an annualized revenue run rate exceeding $1.5 billion. Over the past 30 days, Kalshi recorded approximately $15.8 billion in trading volume, according to DefiLlama data.
Expanding partnerships amid legal challenges
Kalshi has continued to broaden its partnerships even as legal challenges mount across the United States. On Monday, the NBA named Kalshi and Polymarket preferred prediction market exchanges, while S&P Dow Jones Indices partnered with Kalshi to bring its financial benchmarks to event contracts. The moves tie Kalshi to both sides of its expansion: mainstream sports through the NBA's designation and financial benchmarks through the S&P Dow Jones Indices agreement.
The agreements come amid an ongoing dispute over whether Kalshi's sports contracts are subject to state gambling laws or federal derivatives regulation. Utah sued the company last week, prompting the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to file a separate lawsuit on Tuesday seeking to block state enforcement. On Wednesday, Utah escalated the dispute by filing criminal charges against Kalshi and its co-founders, according to a Reuters report. The competing lawsuits put the unresolved question of state gambling oversight versus federal derivatives jurisdiction on course to be tested in court.
