Youngest Self-Made Female Billionaire Emerges from Tech Startup

Luana Lopes Lara, co-founder of Kalshi, became the world's youngest self-made female billionaire at the age of 29 after her startup secured a $1 billion funding round, bringing the company's valuation to $11 billion.

Lopes Lara holds a 12% stake in Kalshi, elevating her net worth to $1.3 billion. The funding round was led by venture capital firm Paradigm, with contributions from Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz.

Kalshi operates a platform that allows users to bet on the outcomes of future events, including elections and economic changes, and is fully legal and regulated in the United States. The startup's valuation has remarkably doubled in under two months, having previously been valued at $5 billion after a $300 million fundraising effort in October.

Lopes Lara, who graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2018, has a background in computer science and mathematics, and she previously worked in finance at firms like Bridgewater Associates and Citadel Securities.

Her journey began in Brazil, where she balanced rigorous academic and ballet training, ultimately leading to her success in tech entrepreneurship alongside co-founder Tarek Mansour. Her emergence as a billionaire marks a significant milestone in the tech industry, highlighting the influence of young innovators in financial markets, as she takes the title from Lucy Guo, the former holder and co-founder of Scale AI.