Kalshi CEO confirms early IPO discussions as company reportedly eyeing $40B valuation

Kalshi co-founder and CEO Tarek Mansour confirmed the prediction market giant is considering a potential IPO. However, Mansour ruled out a public listing for 2026, with the executive saying a debut is more realistic around 2027 or 2028. The discussions come amid sustained growth for the company, which recently hit a $22 billion valuation after its revenue tripled to $2 billion.

The company is also seeking new capital in a funding round that could value the company at $40 billion, according to a Financial Times report on Wednesday, a target that would nearly double its valuation within three months and place the prediction market operator close to some of the world’s highest-valued private companies.

The company closed a $1 billion Series F round in March at a $22 billion valuation. A year earlier, Kalshi was valued at $2 billion, before rising to $5 billion four months later and reaching an $11 billion valuation by December 2025.

At $40 billion, Kalshi would move to a position just outside the top 15 unicorns, a category that refers to private companies valued at least $1 billion. That would put it near Canva and Prometheus, which are valued at $42 billion and $41 billion, respectively.

The fundraising discussions come as prediction market companies continue to attract venture capital, with investors allocating capital to Kalshi and, to a lesser extent, Polymarket at increasingly large multiples. However, a higher private valuation does not necessarily mean an IPO is imminent, particularly as companies continue to remain private for longer.

Excluding Anthropic and OpenAI, which are expected to go public later this year, Crunchbase data shows six unicorns currently valued at least $101 billion and another five valued between $50 billion and $75 billion.

In the meantime, Mansour confirmed in a CNBC interview on Wednesday that the company is considering an initial public offering, though he said a public share sale will not take place in 2026. Mansour said the discussions are still at an early internal stage and did not provide a specific timeline beyond ruling out this year.

“A company of our financial profile with the rate of growth that we’re seeing, that sort of conversation has to happen,” Mansour told CNBC. “People start asking that question. And we’re basically thinking about it, but obviously, we don’t have an answer yet.”

The interview followed reports five days earlier that Kalshi is considering a 2027 or 2028 IPO and is speaking with investment banking candidates about managing the offering. There is also chatter that Kalshi wants banks to integrate its prediction market into a client-facing platform, allowing higher-end professional clients to directly access the yes/no exchange.