Decentralized prediction-market platform 'Kalshi' secures US$1 billion investment

Decentralized prediction-market platform Kalshi has secured a large investment.

According to TechCrunch on the 20th (local time), Kalshi recently completed a new round totaling US$1 billion. The company was valued at US$11 billion. The round was led by existing investors Sequoia and CapitalG. Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Paradigm, Anthos Capital, Neo and others also participated as existing investors.

Kalshi is regarded, together with Polymarket, as one of the two main players in the global prediction market. Competitor Polymarket also recently raised US$1 billion at an US$8 billion valuation and is reportedly discussing a new round valuing it at US$12–15 billion.

Kalshi and Polymarket's popularity has exploded since last year. Both platforms drew public attention by accurately predicting the U.S. presidential election results, and their profile rose further when they also accurately predicted the New York mayoral election earlier this month. Kalshi ran ads on New York subway cars displaying real-time election win probabilities, rapidly raising brand awareness.

Kalshi currently has users in more than 140 countries, and allows bets on a variety of future events, from the 2025 'Person of the Year' selection to the Rotten Tomatoes score of the movie 'Wicked' and the next U.S. president. According to The New York Times (NYT), Kalshi achieved an annualized trading volume of over US$50 billion in October this year, growing more than 1,000-fold from US$300 million last year.