Live Shopping Firm Whatnot Valued at $20 Billion After Major Investment Round

New York – Whatnot, the U.S.-based live shopping platform, has reached a valuation of $20 billion following a recent private investment round. The company, which combines e-commerce with live streaming and digital interaction, secured $545 million in its latest funding, described by its chief product officer as the largest in the sector to date.

This significant valuation underscores Whatnot's rapid growth. In the first half of 2026 alone, the platform's gross merchandise volume surpassed the total for all of 2025, reaching over $8 billion. The company is also rapidly expanding its user base, adding approximately 650,000 new users each week to its existing 20 million registered users.

The new investment round was led by prominent funds including Iconiq, Lightspeed, and Avra. This follows previous backing from major Silicon Valley venture capital firms like Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital.

Whatnot's co-founder and CEO, Grant LaFontaine, stated that the company intends to utilize the funds to develop improved tools, integrate artificial intelligence more deeply into the selling experience, and assist sellers in reaching a larger audience. This expansion aims to further solidify Whatnot's leading position in the Western live shopping market, a sector currently dominated by China's Taobao and where tech giants like Amazon and eBay are also vying for a foothold.

LaFontaine also highlighted the company's strong market share, estimating it at 60% in the U.S., UK, and Europe. He projects the North American and European live shopping market, currently valued at around $22 billion, to double in the near future.