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Kalshi

kalshi.comadded 2026-09-02
Valuation went from $2B to $22B in 11 months — a financing pace rare even in fintech's frothiest year, showing top-tier funds (Sequoia/a16z/Paradigm/Coatue) collectively betting that 'regulated prediction markets' beats the Polymarket-style crypto-native path

Worth-Joining Index · Scorecard

v2.1 ALPHA · 2026-08

Career Score

/100

Coverage

48%thin data

Verified

0%

Stage cohort

Early

Vibe Check

🎪 community voting coming soon

Momentum
4/4
Efficiency
unknown
Backing
5/5
Market
7.7/11
Product
7.7/11
Upside
2/8

Latest valuation

$22B (Series F, 2026-05)

Growth round · 2025-12

Team size

~552 employees

figures vary
预测市场金融科技交易平台Founded · 2018Stage · Late (Series F)HQ · New YorkSize · ~552 employees (2026-07)

Traction · Key numbers

Valuation curve$2B (Jun 2025) → $11B (Dec 2025) → $22B (May 2026) — 11x in under a year Publicly verifiableas of 2026-05
Headcount~552 employees (Jul 2026)~ 3rd-party estimateas of 2026-07
Regulatory standingCFTC-regulated exchange, but sports-event contracts face state gambling-regulator lawsuits/injunctions in multiple states Publicly verifiableas of 2026-05

Funding

Rounds

3

Valuation pace

$2B

$1B

Growth round · 2025-12 · valuation $22B post (Series F, 2026-05) · led by Coatue

Valuation more than 5x'd in about six months

$300M

Growth round · 2025-10 · valuation $5B post · led by Sequoia, a16z, Paradigm

C

$185M

Series C · 2025-06 · valuation $2B post · led by Paradigm

With: Sequoia, Multicoin, Neo, BOND

Valuation went from $2B to $22B in 11 months — a financing pace rare even in fintech's frothiest year, showing top-tier funds (Sequoia/a16z/Paradigm/Coatue) collectively betting that 'regulated prediction markets' beats the Polymarket-style crypto-native path

Lead investors rotated from crypto-native Paradigm to Sequoia/a16z to Coatue — a classic niche-to-mainstream round profile, treating Kalshi as future financial infrastructure rather than a gambling derivative

Rumored next round at $40B signals extreme growth expectations, but the valuation run is currently driven mostly by narrative and regulatory moat, without matching public revenue/volume disclosures

Founders

Tarek Mansour CEO

MIT grad, interned at Goldman Sachs and traded at Citadel; leads regulatory affairs and investor relations

Luana Lopes Lara COO

MIT grad, interned at Bridgewater and Citadel Securities; runs product design, engineering and operations

Reality · Working here

H1B / PERMUnknown
Remote policyUnknown
Comp modelUnknown
GlassdoorUnknown — work here? Help us fill this in →
Equity liquidityUnknown
Hiring statusUnknown

Signals & Risks

CompetitorsPolymarketPredictItDraftKings
RegulatoryOngoing legal disputes with the CFTC and multiple state gambling regulators over how sports-event contracts should be classified
ValuationValuation more than 5x'd in six months, with reports of Kalshi seeking a $40B valuation next — expectations are very stretched
CompetitionFaces direct competition from crypto-native prediction markets like Polymarket for users and regulatory positioning

Editorial ✎

Good fit for

· Engineers and compliance talent who like building solid product inside a regulatory gray zone — the real moat here is licensing and litigation, not UI

· Trading-systems engineers interested in financial market infrastructure, matching engines, and market-maker ecosystems

· People comfortable with a high-exposure company culture where every regulatory development becomes news

Not for

· Anyone averse to litigation or political uncertainty — sports-contract legality is still unresolved and the business scope could be forced to shrink

· People who want a steady, predictable pace — growth and valuation curves here are extremely steep and volatile

Ask in the interview

1. If multiple states ultimately rule sports-event contracts violate gambling law, how would revenue mix and the product roadmap change?

2. Between the current $22B and a rumored $40B, what concrete metrics — volume, revenue, users — support that jump rather than pure narrative premium?

3. Where's the competitive line against Polymarket — regulatory compliance or product experience — and which one is the company betting on to win?

Data changelog

Community corrections → editorial review → applied, fully on the record

2026-09-02
团队规模 filled in as ~552 employees (2026-07)

data as of 2026-07 · Source: Revelio Labs

~ 3rd-party estimate
2026-09-02
最近一轮领投机构 filled in as Coatue

data as of 2026-05 · Source: Kalshi news blog

Company-claimed
2026-09-02
最近一轮估值 filled in as $22B post (Series F, 2026-05)

data as of 2026-05 · Source: Kalshi news blog

Company-claimed
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