Whatnot valued at $20 billion as live shopping continues to boom

Whatnot, a live shopping platform, announced on Friday that it has secured a new funding round at a staggering $20 billion valuation. This significant increase almost doubles the company's valuation from just over a year ago. With over 650,000 new users joining its platform weekly, Whatnot has surpassed $8 billion in gross merchandise volume from the previous year. Additionally, buyer numbers have more than doubled over the past year.

The recent funding, a $545 million Series G led by Iconiq, Lightspeed, and Avra, brings the company's total capital raised to approximately $1.5 billion since its inception in 2019. Grant LaFontaine, co-founder and CEO of Whatnot, stated that the investment will be used to develop enhanced tools, integrate AI across various aspects of the selling experience, facilitate seller reach to more buyers, expand into new markets, and solidify the company's position as the world's largest and most trusted marketplace.

Ranked No. 8 on the CNBC Disruptor 50 list, Whatnot previously raised $225 million in a Series F round led by DST Global and CapitalG in October 2025, valuing the company at $11.5 billion. In January 2025, the startup had already secured $265 million in a Series E round, which valued it at nearly $5 billion. The surge in Whatnot's valuation is indicative of the rapidly expanding live commerce market, which is estimated to be worth over $22 billion and where Whatnot claims to hold roughly 60% of the market share.

However, the company faces increasing competition from e-commerce behemoths like eBay and Fanatics, as well as TikTok's Shop Live.