WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Livestream shopping startup Whatnot has raised $545 million in a Series G funding round, lifting its valuation to $20 billion and nearly doubling it from $11.5 billion less than a year ago.
The round was led by Iconiq, Lightspeed and Avra as the company continues to benefit from the rapid growth of live commerce.
Whatnot said more than 650,000 new users are joining its platform each week, while the number of buyers has more than doubled over the past year. The company has already surpassed the $8 billion in gross merchandise volume recorded last year.
Chief Executive and co-founder Grant LaFontaine said the new funding would be used to develop better tools for sellers, expand the use of AI across the selling experience, reach more buyers and enter new markets.
The latest round brings Whatnot's total funding since its 2019 founding to about $1.5 billion. The company was valued at nearly $5 billion after its Series E round in January 2025 and $11.5 billion after its Series F in October 2025.
Whatnot estimates it controls about 60 percent of the more than $22 billion live commerce market, but faces growing competition from eBay, Fanatics and TikTok Shop.
Copyright(c) 2026 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2026 AFX News
