Kalshi's latest valuation is $11 billion. Founder Lopes Lara breaks the record as the youngest billionaire in Taylor's history.

After completing a new round of $1 billion funding, the prediction market Kalshi’s valuation skyrocketed to $11 billion. In 2025, Kalshi completed three consecutive funding rounds, with valuations rising from $2 billion in June, $5 billion in October, to $11 billion in November, a fivefold increase in one year. This also made founder Luana Lopes Lara, who owns 12% equity, a billionaire at the age of 29 with a net worth of $1.3 billion. Breaking the record for the youngest self-made billionaire set by American pop superstar Taylor Swift (Taylor Swift).

Kalshi’s 2025 three-round funding, valuation multiplied five times

Last month, the prediction market Kalshi completed a new $1 billion funding round, with its valuation soaring to $11 billion. The funds were led by Sequoia (Sequoia) and Alphabet’s CapitalG, with other investors including a16z, Paradigm, Anthos Capital, and Neo.

(Kalshi’s latest valuation surges to $11 billion, competing fiercely with Polymarket)

After 2025, Kalshi completed two large funding rounds in succession. In June, led by crypto investment firm Paradigm, raising $185 million, with the company’s valuation reaching $2 billion. In early October, led by a16z and Sequoia Capital, raising $300 million, the valuation officially jumped to $5 billion. The latest valuation in November soared again to $11 billion. In just a few months, Kalshi’s valuation doubled, attracting more market attention.

Kalshi founder Luana Lopes Lara breaks Taylor Swift’s record

In 2023, American pop star Taylor Swift’s personal wealth reached $1.1 billion, making her the youngest self-made billionaire (billionaire) at age 33. Forbes announced the 2025 Global Celebrity Billionaires list this April, with Taylor Swift ranking 9th with a net worth of $1.6 billion.

Kalshi’s valuation increased fivefold within half a year from $2 billion, also making co-founder Luana Lopes Lara, age 29, the youngest self-made female billionaire in the world, breaking Taylor Swift’s record. It is understood that Lopes Lara and co-founder Tarek Mansour each hold about 12% equity, with personal net assets of approximately $1.3 billion.

From professional ballet dancer to entrepreneur

Lopes Lara was born in Brazil and graduated from MIT with a degree in computer science. She interned at Bridgewater Associates, founded by Ray Dalio, and at Citadel Securities under Ken Griffin, and within just six years, built a startup valued at over $10 billion. However, she describes her most brutal years not as entrepreneurship, but as her high school vocational ballet training.

During rigorous training at the Moscow Ballet School system in Brazil, Lopes Lara faced extreme competition and high-pressure environments: teachers would approach her thighs with lit cigarettes to test her endurance in difficult poses; dancers would even hide glass shards in their shoes to compete for stage positions. She attended classes from morning to noon daily, then dedicated long hours to ballet training from afternoon to late at night.

Despite this, influenced by her math teacher mother and electrical engineer father, Lopes Lara excelled in academic competitions, winning a gold medal at the Brazilian Astronomy Olympiad and a bronze in math contests. After high school, she spent nine months as a professional ballet dancer in Austria before choosing to leave ballet shoes behind and study at MIT in the United States. Lopes Lara met Lebanese-born Tarek Mansour at MIT, where they both majored in computer science. The two entered Y Combinator in 2019, which later incubated the compliance-focused Kalshi.

This article about Kalshi’s latest valuation of $11 billion and founder Lopes Lara breaking Taylor Swift’s record for the youngest billionaire first appeared on Chain News ABMedia.