Kalshi Ownership: Founders, Investors & Key Backers in 2024

Kalshi has had a tremendous couple of years. From the spark of an idea between two friends, to a multi-billion-dollar juggernaut. The New York based prediction market is a major player in this burgeoning industry and the first CFTC authorized exchange dedicated to trade on the outcome of future events. But who owns Kalshi?  We focus here on the founders of Kalshi, and the different investors of Kalshi who have been a big part of the eight-year journey.

Is Kalshi Private?
Kalshi is privately held as of January 2026. While the company’s international profile is increasing, it remains privately owned.

The company has, however, had a number of top investors behind it including Paradigm, Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz.

Kalshi is apparently hunting for a valuation far above its present $11 billion, aiming for $20 billion as it wants to grow prediction markets beyond sports as of March 2026.

Kalshi Founders: The Trailblazers of the Exchange
Kalshi was founded by Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara, who met while studying at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Kalshi CEO Mansour was born in California but grew up in Lebanon. Lopes Lara is originally from Brazil. At MIT, the two fell in love with finance. Mansour worked at Goldman and Citadel Securities, while Lopes Lara worked at Bridgewater and Citadel.

In the early years of their jobs they found a lot of trading was based on opinions about future events. They also found out that there was no chance to directly bet on the events themselves. That gave me an idea that became Kalshi.

The two Kalshi founders continue as executives in the business. The actual percentage of owned has not been disclosed but is thought each owns roughly 12%.

Kalshi Governance & Board Structure
Kalshi is a private company and not subject to the same board disclosure requirements as a public corporation. But the company did provide some details about its general structure in a Form D filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The document shows two executive officers: Tarek Mansour, the Kalshi CEO, and co-founder Luana Lopes Lara.

Other directors named are: 

Alfred Lin, a partner on the seed/early team of Sequoia, a famous venture capital firm founded in the early 1970s
Michael Seibel, partner emeritus at Y Combinator, a startup incubator that offers seed money and guidance to companies
Matt Huang, managing partner and co-founder of crypto investing business Paradigm.
Kalshi has also been connected to Timothy McDermott, who sits on the company’s Regulatory Oversight Committee and its Disciplinary Panel, and Brian Quintenz, a former commissioner at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). 

At the start of 2025, Kalshi announced that Donald Trump Jr. has joined the firm as a Strategic Advisor.

Kalshi Investors: The $11 Billion Behind
Any look at who owns Kalshi has to look at the people and organisations that have supported the business since it began in 2018. These are the main names thus far:

Paradigm 
This U.S. research-based crypto investment company invests in firms in their early phases and has led the investment in Kalshi twice.

Matt Huang and Fred Ehrsam launched the business in 2018. Huang, the managing partner, was a partner at Sequoia Capital.

Paradigm has led two investment rounds for Kalshi and is substantially involved in the third. 

Sequoia Capital,
Founded in the early 1970s, this US venture capital business has invested in success stories such as Apple, YouTube and Airbnb.

It brands itself as a refuge for creative souls, a phrase it defines on its website as the underdogs, the steadfast, the driven and the outcasts.

Sequoia has participated in every investment round that Kalshi has publicly announced.

Andreessen Horowitz 
Another U.S. venture capital firm, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), backs entrepreneurs leveraging technology to build the future. 

The business has also participated in subsequent fundraising rounds, and co-led the Series D funding into Kalshi, alongside Sequoia Capital.

Y Combinator (YC)
Founded in March 2005, the California-based business accelerator and seed investor has backed more than 5,000 firms.

The list includes worldwide titans such as Airbnb, Dropbox and DoorDash. Its association with Kalshi includes an initial investment in 2019 and participation in its recent Series E funding round.

Kalshi raises funding rounds
Below is a table of the five publicized Kalshi investment rounds, including how much they raised, the firm valuation and the significant investors.