Whatnot, a live shopping marketplace where sellers auction and sell goods on video streams, raised a $545m Series G at a $20bn valuation, announced on 7 August 2026. ICONIQ, Lightspeed and Avra led the round, according to Fortune and FashionUnited.
The valuation is up from $11.5bn in the company's October 2025 round, Fortune reported. Whatnot called the round the largest raise in live shopping.
Fortune, which had the story first, noted that it previously reported Whatnot crossing one billion orders. The company's blog post said it was built by small businesses, and that early sellers began live selling before many people understood it.
“Our job is to help every seller grow.”Grant LaFontaine, Co-Founder and CEO, Whatnot
Who invested
New investors included Kleiner Perkins and Wellington Management, Fortune reported. FashionUnited also listed Robinhood Ventures Fund I, S32 and Standard Capital as new investors.
Existing backers named included Andreessen Horowitz, Bond, DST Global, Greycroft, Y Combinator, CapitalG, Durable Capital Partners and Alkeon, according to the two outlets. Fortune put Whatnot's total funding since 2019 at about $1.5bn.
Growth
FashionUnited reported that Whatnot's gross merchandise volume has already passed its total for 2025, which was more than $8bn, around six months into 2026. Whatnot's own post said sellers have sold more in the first half of the year than in all of 2025.
The company said more than 650,000 people join the platform every week, the number of sellers passing $1m in lifetime sales more than doubled over the past year, and the share of sellers earning a full-time living on Whatnot rose 25%. FashionUnited added that buyers more than doubled and that seller numbers in the UK, its second market after the US, rose 360%.
Whatnot did not disclose revenue or headcount.
The company
Whatnot was founded in 2019. Grant LaFontaine is chief executive and co-founder. He told Fortune that when you look at Silicon Valley it is 99.99% AI right now, and that he would prefer to stay private as long as possible.
Laela Sturdy, a managing partner at CapitalG, said in an email to Fortune that Whatnot now spans hundreds of categories across multiple countries. Yoonkee Sull, a general partner at ICONIQ, told the magazine that you have to be extremely focused.
What the money is for
In its announcement Whatnot said the funds will go towards helping sellers grow: marketing that introduces live shopping to new buyers, building buyer trust and repeat purchases, expanding into new categories and markets, and AI-assisted tools that reduce seller workload.
FashionUnited gave examples of the AI tools as smarter listings, business insights and integrations, and said Whatnot will also strengthen trust and safeguards. LaFontaine said the company's job is to help every seller grow.
Company website: whatnot.com