Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour on Raising $1BN, CNN and CNBC Deals & the Polymarket Feud

Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour explains the $1B raise at $11B valuation, the Polymarket rivalry, and why regulatory-first was the right bet against FTX-era pressure.

• Kalshi raised $1B at an $11B valuation ($1.59B total) from Sequoia, a16z, General Catalyst, IVP, and Meritech.
• Kalshi claims to be the fastest-growing US company outside AI in 2025, profitable at ~110 employees.
• Government blocked Kalshi’s election markets twice (2022 midterms, 2023) before Kalshi sued and won in October 2024.
• Only 1-2 out of every 100 Kalshi users are active traders; the rest use it as a real-time news and probability signal.
• Exclusive media partnerships with CNN and CNBC announced the same week as the fundraise, targeting prediction markets embedded in live news coverage.
• Alfred Lin (Sequoia) always argues the opposite of whatever position Tarek brings him, deliberately pushing toward nuance and avoiding overconfidence.
• Tarek’s biggest self-identified mistake: stayed product-only too long and built the marketing muscle years too late.
• Kalshi’s regulatory-first approach was mocked as boring when FTX was ascendant; Tarek frames the FTX collapse as validation to ignore peer pressure and hold conviction.

2025-12-08 · Watch on YouTube