Business13 August, 20262 min read
Kalshi Seeks $750 Million Funding Round From Sequoia Capital And Wellington Management At $40 Billion Valuation
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Kalshi seeks at least $750 million in funding at a $40B valuation from Sequoia, Wellington. Comes after $1 billion raise at $22B valuation in May, nearly doubling.
Kalshi eyes $750M round
Prediction-market platform Kalshi is in advanced talks with Sequoia Capital and Wellington Management to raise at least $750 million at a $40 billion valuation, The Information reported citing people familiar with the matter. The proposed round would deepen Sequoia’s existing stake and mark Wellington’s first investment in Kalshi, as the company eyes a potential IPO in 2027, CEO Tarek Mansour said in June. The discussions come after Kalshi raised $1 billion at a $22 billion valuation in May, and the new valuation would nearly double that figure.
CoinDesk said Kalshi now generates about $4 billion in annualized revenue, driven largely by sports contracts, and claims 95 percent of the U.S. prediction market by revenue. Kalshi’s sports-contract business accounts for more than 80% of its volume, and CoinDesk linked the growth to 2026 World Cup betting.
Investors and market share
CoinDesk reported that Sequoia, which has $56 billion in assets under management, already has an executive on Kalshi’s board of directors, while Wellington is a Boston-based financial giant with $1.3 trillion in client assets under management. The Information’s reporting, as relayed by CoinDesk, said Wellington has made private investments in companies leading up to their initial public offerings, and that the funding amount could be greater than $750 million. CoinDesk also said Kalshi is the number one prediction market platform by revenue, followed by Polymarket, which was last reported to be seeking funding at a $20 billion valuation.
CoinDesk tied Kalshi’s revenue growth to 2026 World Cup betting, and it said Polymarket’s revenue was only $1.1 billion for that same period. DiarioBitcoin added that Sequoia “now claims 95% of the US market share in prediction markets,” reinforcing the scale of Kalshi’s position in the U.S. market.
Legal pressure and next steps
Alongside the fundraising talks, Kalshi is facing legal and reputational challenges, including a lawsuit in which FlightAware filed against Kalshi accusing the platform of using its trademark and data for prediction markets. The Information also reported that Spotify demanded Kalshi remove the service’s logos and clearly state that there is no partnership between the companies, after music chart manipulation that could have affected outcomes of bets on the platform. Kalshi’s business momentum is tied to sports contracts, which contribute to over 80% of its volume, and CoinDesk said the platform’s annualized revenue increased to $4 billion in July.
CoinDesk reported that Kalshi announced Wednesday that Jeff Bandman is returning as CEO of Kalshi Prime, the unit that serves customers of Kalshi’s margin perpetual futures business. CoinDesk said neither Sequoia, Wellington nor Kalshi immediately responded to a CoinDesk request for confirmation as the company weighs its next moves toward a 2027 IPO.