Luana Lopes Lara, Co-Founder of prediction markets platform Kalshi, has Brazil firmly on the operator's radar as it plans its next phase of international expansion.
Recently valued at $11bn after its latest funding round, Kalshi is exploring how its regulated market model could eventually be introduced in the country, although plans remain at an early stage.
Lara, 29, became the youngest self-made female billionaire in the world without inheritance after Kalshi's most recent capital raise.
In an interview with Valor, she explained that the company's interest in Brazil is both professional and personal. "The Brazilian market is very important to me, as a Brazilian myself, I really want us to go there," she said.
She added that while nothing has been formalized yet, the company hopes to announce developments "at the beginning of next year."
Lara told Valor that Kalshi's creation was shaped by frustration with how financial markets attempt to price future events indirectly.
"Our idea was to create an exchange where people could buy and sell the outcome of what will happen, instead of relying on indirect structures," she explained.
This approach, she said, allows markets to reflect expectations more efficiently, particularly in complex scenarios where multiple variables interact.
Regulation has been central to Kalshi's development. Lara recalled that the company spent three years working with US regulators before launching, followed by further legal disputes to expand into politically sensitive markets such as election-related contracts.
A significant share of Kalshi's current revenue comes from sports-related markets, an area that often attracts scrutiny due to its proximity to traditional betting.
Lara argued, however, that sports markets serve a genuine hedging function for businesses exposed to sporting outcomes.
Hotels, broadcasters and even publicly traded clubs, she noted, face measurable financial risks linked to sports events.
For Brazil, Lara acknowledged that there is currently no equivalent structure combining derivatives-style markets and event-based trading.
She said the company has only just begun analysing how the Brazilian regulatory environment might accommodate such a model.
Kalshi is currently involved in legal proceedings in the US, with a class action in New York facing delays as courts assess jurisdictional and regulatory questions surrounding prediction markets
