The Brazilian-born MIT graduate’s startup Kalshi hits USD 11 billion valuation after major funding round.

xLuana Lopes Lara, a Brazilian-born technologist and entrepreneur, has become the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire at just 29. Lara is the co-founder of Kalshi , a regulated prediction market platform that recently secured a valuation of USD 11 billion following a USD 1 billion funding round.

Born in Brazil, Lara trained as a ballerina before shifting her focus to technology. She later pursued degrees in computer science and mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she developed strong foundations in quantitative analysis and software engineering — skills that later became pivotal in her finance and technology career.

Lara co-founded Kal

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