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Whatnot's $225M Funding Round Vaults Live Shopping Platform to $11.5B Valuation

The Los Angeles-based marketplace has secured fresh capital from DST Global and CapitalG, more than doubling its value in under a year as live commerce gains momentum.

·2 min read
Whatnot Lands $225M Series F, More Than Doubles Valuation to $11.5B Since January
Whatnot Lands $225M Series F, More Than Doubles Valuation to $11.5B Since January

Whatnot, which operates a live shopping marketplace, has completed a $225 million Series F funding round that values the company at $11.5 billion—a more than twofold increase from its valuation less than 10 months prior. The financing was jointly led by DST Global and CapitalG, bringing the total capital raised by the Los Angeles-based startup to approximately $968 million since its founding in 2019. The company's previous Series E round, which closed in January, raised $265 million at a valuation near $5 billion.

Sequoia Capital and Alkeon Capital joined the round as new backers, while existing investors Greycroft, Andreessen Horowitz, Avra and Bond also participated. The funding group also includes Y Combinator, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Liquid 2 Ventures. As part of this financing, Whatnot announced a tender offer allowing certain current shareholders to purchase up to $126 million in company shares.

The funding landscape for e-commerce ventures remains challenging compared to recent years. Through 2025 to date, global e-commerce startups have raised $7.1 billion, substantially below the $11.3 billion secured across all of 2024. These figures reflect a dramatic pullback from the pandemic-era surge, when $93 billion flowed into the sector in 2021.

'Retail's new normal'

Live commerce merges livestreaming with e-commerce transactions. According to Grant LaFontaine, Whatnot's co-founder and chief executive, the company is "proving that live shopping is retail's new normal."

Whatnot's platform has facilitated over $6 billion in merchandise sales during 2025 so far, surpassing its entire 2024 total by more than double. The marketplace enables buyers and sellers to trade collectibles such as trading cards and action figures through live video auctions, and also supports sales of apparel and footwear. The platform faces competition from established players including eBay, which operates its own livestreaming feature called eBay Live, as well as TikTok Shop.

Whatnot co-founders Logan Head and Grant LaFontaine. Courtesy photo.

Laela Sturdy, a Whatnot board member and managing partner at CapitalG (Alphabet's independent growth fund), remarked that "Whatnot brought the live shopping wave to the US, the UK, and Europe and has turned it into one of the fastest growing marketplaces of all time."

The company intends to deploy the new capital toward enhancing its platform, launching additional features and refining its operational policies. Whatnot is also prioritizing geographic expansion beyond its current markets. The startup plans to expand its workforce, which currently stands at 900 employees, through hiring across multiple business units.

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