Kalshi Seeks $40B Valuation Seven Weeks After $22B Raise

Prediction-market operator Kalshi is in talks to raise fresh capital at a valuation of roughly $40 billion, according to the Financial Times, nearly double the price tag from a round that closed just seven weeks ago.

The Financial Times first reported the talks, citing people familiar with the matter, and CNBC reported the company is sounding out investors for an IPO, but thta it wouldn’t go public this year. The figure is roughly double the $22 billion valuation Kalshi locked in on May 7, when it confirmed a $1 billion raise led by Coatue with participation from Morgan Stanley, Sequoia and Andreessen Horowitz. The $40 billion target is a sought figure, not a closed deal.

Eightfold In 18 Months

The repricing extends one of the steepest private-market climbs in the sector. Kalshi was valued near $5 billion in early 2025 and around $11 billion by December, before the May round at $22 billion. A $40 billion mark would put it roughly eightfold higher in about 18 months.

Volume underwrites the trajectory. Kalshi handled more than $17 billion in trading last month, up from about $5 billion a year earlier, according to the Financial Times report relayed by CNBC. The platform posted $73.5 billion in notional volume over the trailing year, per Token Terminal data, ahead of rival Polymarket.

Widening The Gap

The raise would stretch Kalshi's lead over Polymarket, which Reuters reported in April was in talks to raise at a $15 billion valuation. The split tracks a regulatory divide: Kalshi operates as a CFTC-registered exchange in the United States, a status that has drawn mainstream institutional backers.

Chief executive Tarek Mansour told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Wednesday that a public listing would not come this year, though the company has begun weighing one. "A company of our financial profile with the rate of growth that we're seeing, that sort of conversation has to happen," Mansour said, adding that any IPO would not arrive before 2027.

Capital Versus Courts

The fundraising lands as Kalshi fights a multi-front jurisdictional battle. The CFTC this week sued Kentucky, the ninth state drawn into federal litigation over who regulates event contracts, after Kentucky sued Kalshi and Polymarket for operating without gaming licenses. CME Group has separately moved to sue the CFTC over its approval of Kalshi's bitcoin perpetual futures.

Investor appetite at $40 billion prices the federal-registration posture as an asset even as the courts test it. Kalshi has not made a public statement on the reported funding talks.