Kalshi CEO Confirms IPO Under Consideration as $40B Valuation Rumor Surfaces

• Kalshi co-founder and CEO Tarek Mansour confirmed the prediction market platform is in the early stages of planning an IPO
• Mansour ruled out a public listing for 2026, noting that a debut is more realistic around 2027 or 2028
• The discussions follow a massive growth spurt for the company, which recently hit a $22 billion valuation after its revenue tripled to $2 billion

Kalshi co-founder and CEO Tarek Mansour confirmed the prediction market Goliath is considering an initial public offering (IPO), but it won’t commence a public share sale this year.

In an interview with CNBC this morning (June 24), Mansour acknowledged the largest U.S. prediction market operator is thinking about an IPO and is having nascent internal conversations to that effect, but he didn’t get into specifics around a possible timeline beyond noting the IPO won’t occur in 2026.

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 took place just five days after reports surfaced indicating Kalshi is mulling a 2027 or 2028 IPO and is reportedly talking with investment banking candidates about managing the offering.

There’s chatter that Kalshi wants banks to integrate its prediction market into a client-facing platform so higher-end, professional clients can directly access the yes/no exchange.

Kalshi Valuation Could Nearly Double

Aside from the IPO talks, a Financial Times report on Wednesday indicated Kalshi is actively seeking fresh capital in a funding round that could value the company at $40 billion.

A year ago, the event contracts purveyor was valued at $2 billion. Four months later, that multiple swelled to $5 billion and by December 2025, private market investors were investing in Kalshi at an $11 billion valuation. That is to say Kalshi’s valuation did in fact double from December 2025 to March 2026.

If Kalshi does land a $40 billion valuation, it’d rocket up the list of unicorns — private companies valued at least $1 billion — to a spot just outside the top 15 and within striking distance of Canva and Prometheus, which are valued at $42 billion and $41 billion, respectively.

Upped Valuation Not Necessarily IPO Confirmation

Prediction markets seeking new capital isn’t a new theme. Nor is venture investors’ willingness to allocate to Kalshi and, to a lesser extent, Polymarket are increasingly sizable multiples.

However, Kalshi’s quest for a $40 billion valuation and possible IPO plans may be mutually exclusive because the former doesn’t necessarily beget the latter. Not at a time when companies are staying private longer.

Even when excluding Anthropic and OpenAI, which are expected to go public later this year, there are six unicorns currently valued at least $101 billion, according to Crunchbase data. Another five sport valuations ranging from $50 billion to $75 billion.