Whatnot Raises $545 Million in Record Live Commerce Funding Round, Valuation Hits $20 Billion

Whatnot Raises Record $545 Million in Biggest Live Commerce Funding Round - Robinhood Ventures Fund (NYSE

Whatnot has raised $545 million in a Series G financing, marking what the company says is the largest funding round ever completed in the live-commerce industry. In a company blog post, Whatnot said it will use the capital to expand its buyer base through marketing, strengthen trust and safety across its marketplace, launch new product categories and geographic markets, and develop AI-powered tools designed to automate administrative tasks for sellers. The company's valuation now sits at $20 billion, following its latest round of funding, which was led by Iconiq, Lightspeed and Avara, CNBC reported. Robinhood Ventures Fund I (NYSE:RVI) also revealed it invested $30 million of preferred stock in the e-commerce company. The funding comes as Whatnot reports rapid growth across its platform. The company said sellers had already generated more sales by the midpoint of 2026 than they did during all of 2025, and more than 650,000 people are joining the platform each week. Over the past year, the number of sellers surpassing $1 million in lifetime sales has more than doubled, while the share of sellers earning a full-time income on the platform has increased by 25%. The company said the new funding will help it continue investing in the small businesses that power its live-shopping marketplace, with a focus on expanding seller opportunities and simplifying operations through new technology. Founded in Los Angeles in 2019, Whatnot operates a livestream marketplace where sellers auction and list products in real time. The platform focuses on collectibles and enthusiast categories -- including sneakers, sports cards, apparel, vinyl records and luxury goods -- and generates revenue by taking a percentage of each transaction. This latest funding round shows investor confidence in livestream commerce, even as competition intensifies. While the format has become a dominant retail channel in China through platforms such as Taobao Live, adoption in the U.S. is still developing. At the same time, rivals including TikTok Shop, Amazon Live and eBay Live are investing more heavily in creator-led and livestream shopping, raising the stakes for the sector's fastest-growing players. Earlier this year, Whatnot faced allegations tied to an illegal gambling operation and violation of the RICO Act when it allowed sellers to conduct randomized box breaks and randomized repack breaks of collectable items on its platform. This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, click here.

Live Commerce Platform Whatnot Raises $545 Million to Speed AI Expansion | PYMNTS.com

The round increased Whatnot's valuation to $20 billion, up from the $11.5 billion valuation the company achieved in an October 2025 Series F round in which it raised $225 million. "This investment helps us to build better tools, bring AI to more parts of the selling experience, help sellers reach more buyers, expand into new markets, and continue building the world's biggest and most trusted marketplace," Whatnot Co-Founder and CEO Grant LaFontaine said in the release. Whatnot's live commerce platform currently operates in North America, the United Kingdom and Europe, according to the release. While small businesses were the earliest adopters of the platform, businesses of all sizes are now tapping its live commerce capabilities, LaFontaine said. During the first half of the year, Whatnot's gross merchandise volume (GMV) surpassed the $8 billion it achieved in the full year of 2025. In addition, over the past year, the number of buyers using the platform more than doubled, the number of sellers reaching more than $1 million in lifetime sales more than doubled, and the share of sellers who sell full time on the platform grew by 25%, per the release. Whatnot said in a Friday blog post that since it launched its platform, its early sellers "turned live shopping from a thing you had to explain into a way people expect to shop." The new artificial intelligence-powered tools Whatnot plans to develop with the new funding include smarter listings to help sellers reach more customers, deeper business insights to help sellers make better decisions, and integrations that simplify selling on Whatnot and reduce the amount of time sellers spend on administrative work, according to the press release. It was reported in July that Whatnot acquired Shaped, a machine learning startup that builds real-time recommendation and search infrastructure. Whatnot uses AI like a behind-the-scenes assistant, speeding things up while keeping the spotlight on the people who make live commerce fun, Armand Wilson, vice president of categories and expansion at Whatnot, told PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster in an interview posted in November 2025. Whatnot's latest funding round was led by ICONIQ, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Avra, according to the Friday press release. ICONIQ General Partner Yoonkee Sull said in the release that ICONIQ was impressed by how businesses are growing on the Whatnot platform and that the platform's success in attracting small businesses, retailers and global brands "is a powerful signal of where commerce is headed." Bejul Somaia, partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners, said in the release that Whatnot has demonstrated that "live is a new and accelerating channel to fuel growth for sellers of all sizes."