Tiger Global and Dragoneer in Talks for Kalshi's $1 Billion Round

Kalshi is in advanced talks to raise roughly $1 billion at a valuation of about $40 billion, according to people familiar with the matter — a figure that would nearly double the prediction markets exchange's worth in four months.

Tiger Global Management and Dragoneer Investment Group are in discussions to join the round alongside existing and new investors, the sources said, requesting anonymity because the talks are confidential. The round could be finalized in the coming weeks.

Sequoia Capital, an existing investor, is in talks to lead the round with Wellington Management. The Information first reported Sequoia and Wellington's involvement in August. Alfred Lin, one of Sequoia's co-leaders, sits on Kalshi's five-member board. The participation of Tiger Global and Dragoneer, as well as the size of the raise, had not been previously reported.

Representatives for Kalshi and Tiger Global declined to comment. Sequoia, Wellington and Dragoneer did not respond to requests for comment.

From Prediction Markets to Full-Service Exchange

The funding talks come as New York-based Kalshi pushes to expand beyond its prediction markets roots in sports betting and election outcomes. The company wants to become a one-stop trading platform for a wide array of asset classes, competing with traditional exchange heavyweights such as CME Group and Intercontinental Exchange, the parent of the New York Stock Exchange.

Kalshi has also seized market share from its crosstown rival Polymarket over the past year, according to data from Dune Analytics. Polymarket has struggled with the launch of its US platform and faces an investigation from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Polymarket, which counts Intercontinental Exchange among its biggest backers, is in separate talks to raise $1 billion of its own, according to people familiar with the matter. Bloomberg reported on those discussions earlier.

A $40 Billion Leap

The prospective valuation marks a sharp step up from May, when Kalshi raised $1 billion at a $22 billion valuation. If completed, the new round would represent an 82% jump in the company's worth in a single funding cycle.

Kalshi was founded in 2018 by Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara. Regulated by the CFTC, the company was seeded through Y Combinator, the Silicon Valley accelerator known for backing early-stage ventures.

The company has also held early discussions about a potential initial public offering in the coming years, the sources said. Mansour addressed those ambitions in a recent CNBC interview.

The Investors Behind the Round

Chase Coleman's Tiger Global pioneered the crossover investing model and has backed OpenAI, ByteDance, Revolut and Flipkart over the past two decades. The firm recently raised a $2.2 billion venture fund, Private Investment Partners 16, and is raising its PIP 17 fund as it ramps up venture bets following the industry-wide downturn that ran from 2022. Tiger Global manages roughly $60 billion in assets.

San Francisco-based Dragoneer is a technology-focused investment firm whose recent portfolio includes OpenAI and SpaceX.

Regulatory Cloud Forms

The fundraising momentum comes as prediction markets draw growing scrutiny. As the venues become alternative arenas for traders to bet on big US names like Nvidia and Apple, concerns about investor protection and market oversight are mounting, Reuters reported earlier in September. Several lawmakers, including US Senator Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, have recently raised concerns about the sector's rapid growth.

A $40 billion valuation would hand Kalshi the resources to press its expansion into direct competition with CME and ICE — but it would also place the company squarely at the center of the regulatory debate now forming around its industry.