Whatnot Raises $545 Million to Accelerate AI Push

Whatnot operates a live-commerce marketplace where sellers auction products to buyers through video streams, expanding from collectibles such as trading cards and sneakers into dozens of broader categories. Merchandise sales exceeded $6 billion in 2025, more than doubling from a year earlier. The growth underscores live shopping’s increasing traction outside China and makes real-time AI recommendations — matching shoppers with rapidly changing inventory and demand — central to the platform’s next stage.

Whatnot said on Aug. 7, 2026, that it raised $545 million in a Series G funding round, lifting its valuation to $20 billion from $11.5 billion after its October 2025 Series F. ICONIQ, Lightspeed and Avra led the financing, with several existing investors also participating. The Los Angeles-based company plans to deploy more AI across the selling and shopping experience and use the fresh capital to accelerate its expansion in international markets.