Kalshi co-founder Luana Lopes Lara on the biggest prediction markets risks she has ever taken
By Krysta Escobar
Published on March 14, 2026.
Luana Lopes Lara, co-founder of Kalshi, has revealed that she faced the largest risk-taking risk she has ever taken in a prediction markets trading business. The company, founded in 2018 by Lope Lara and Tarek Mansour as MIT classmates, allows users to trade contracts tied to real world outcomes in areas such as weather, sports, pop culture, economics, and politics. Despite facing many government battles and skepticism from their own board, the founders were determined to push forward. KALShi spent years navigating the regulatory process before receiving approval from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission in 2020. Despite setbacks, the company recently raised $1 billion from investors and is now valued at $11 billion.
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