Leading prediction market platform Kalshi has reportedly secured a $5 billion valuation after raising $300 million in a new round of funding. Currently only available in the U.S., Kalshi will also be expanding access to its platform to “more than 140 countries.”
The news was first reported by The New York Times and was confirmed by a Kalshi spokesperson to Bloomberg.
Kalshi CEO and co-founder Tarek Mansour later confirmed the funding raise and expansion news with a short post on X and LinkedIn, saying that since securing the funding in August, “we’ve grown over 3x, hit $50B of annualized volume, and became the largest prediction market in the world.”
Kalshi recently raised $300M+ at $5B from Sequoia, a16z, Paradigm and others.
Since then, we’ve grown over 3x, hit $50B of annualized volume, and became the largest prediction market in the world.
And today…Kalshi goes global.
140+ countries. 1 liquidity pool. pic.twitter.com/Z2myzRw9bA
— Tarek Mansour (@mansourtarek_) October 10, 2025
Mansour also said that Kalshi is going “global” today, writing “140+ countries. 1 liquidity pool.” In a press release, the platform called the “single, unified liquidity pool” a structure “unique to Kalshi.”
“While other platforms operate with fragmented, region-specific markets, Kalshi’s global exchange connects traders worldwide to the same set of events, deepening liquidity and price discovery across every market,” the company writes. “Prediction markets have always had worldwide relevance. Events don’t stop at borders, and now, neither does trading on them. Whether it’s elections, central bank decisions, sports, or climate, users across continents can trade directly on the outcomes that shape their world.
Familiar investors participate in latest Kalshi funding round
Investors leading Kalshi’s Series D funding round were venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, which was one of the platform’s earliest investors, and new investor Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). A post on the a16z X account about the investment said that Kalshi not only has “more volume than every other prediction market combined, but it’s the fastest growing tech company in the world outside AI.”
We’re thrilled to be co-leading @Kalshi‘s Series D.
Prediction markets have established themselves not only as a new asset class, but as an extremely useful tool for predicting the future. And Kalshi is the leading company in the space. Not only does it have more volume than… https://t.co/1efgYjDDP4 pic.twitter.com/Diu4kdzj8b
— a16z (@a16z) October 10, 2025
According to Mansour, other investors this round include General Catalyst, CapitalG, Spark, and Coinbase Ventures, the venture capital arm of crypto exchange Coinbase that has also invested in Polymarket. Celebrity comedian Kevin Hart and NBA star Kevin Durant were also among the most recent investors.
Crypto-focused investment group Paradigm also participated in the latest funding round. Paradigm led Kalshi’s last raise, announced in June, that had put its valuation at $2 billion. The dedication by some leading crypto investment firms suggests a lot of confidence in Kalshi’s recently-announced deeper pursuit of integrations with cryptocurrency exchanges and apps.
Expansions and funding raises set up Kalshi/Polymarket showdown
Kalshi’s latest raise and valuation boost comes just a few days after Polymarket announced it had secured an up to $2 billion investment from Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE), the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange. ICE says the investment reflects Polymarket’s pre-investment valuation of $8 billion.
As Kalshi’s biggest competitor, Polymarket is on the precipice of returning to the U.S. Though currently only available in the U.S., thanks to a massive trading volume boost driven by sports event contracts, Kalshi last month overtook Polymarket to take over the majority share — more than 60% — of global prediction market activity, according to data provider Dune (as reported by The New York Times).
After being forced to prohibit access to U.S. users by the CFTC in early 2022, the crypto-fueled Polymarket has been doing very well on an international level. Polymarket stands to boost its trading volume substantially with its imminent U.S. re-entry, but Kalshi’s international expansion will make the competition even tighter.
For September, Polymarket reportedly attracted $1.43 billion in trading volume, according to DeFiLlama. Kalshi reportedly topped $3 billion, its biggest month yet, in September, thanks primarily to massive interest in its NFL markets.
CEO beta testing Polymarket US app this weekend
Polymarket hasn’t set a firm date for its U.S. re-launch, but it recently began self-certifying event contracts (for sports and election markets), suggesting it could happen at any moment. The government shutdown and reduced staff at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which oversees and regulates prediction markets in the U.S., could delay plans.
Polymarket founder and CEO Shayne Coplan, recently declared the world’s youngest self-made billionaire thanks to the ICE investment, posted on X yesterday that he will be beta testing the new Polymarket US app this weekend in New York City.
who wants to watch football with me this sunday? in nyc
gonna be beta testing the new polymarket US app
— Shayne Coplan 🦅 (@shayne_coplan) October 9, 2025
