The new funding will be used to invest in customer experience, the development of seller tools, new market expansion (both categories and geographies), and a reinforced commitment to trust and safety, the company said. It also plans to buy back up to $72 million in shares, which it described as signaling "Whatnot's commitment to continue to invest in its employees worldwide."
The post-money valuation of Whatnot stands at $4.97 billion after this new round. Whatnot previously raised $260 million in its Series D round in 2022, with a $3.7 billion post-money valuation; and $150 million in Series C investment in 2021, with a $1.5 billion post-money valuation (see "Money Pours In").
Whatnot is making a significant impact on the TCG and comics markets; Whatnot reported this summer that 3% of vendors were selling TCG products, 3% were selling "comics and anime," and 8% were selling "toys and hobbies" (see "Live Selling by the Numbers"). While those percentages aren't huge, the pie is big and growing fast: Whatnot reported that the gross merchandise value of livestream sales on the platform was over $3 billion in 2024, more than twice the sales in 2023. The number of new sellers and first-time buyers also doubled over the past year.
