LOS ANGELES, May 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Today, Whatnot announced it has raised $50M in Series B funding, led by Anu Hariharan from Y Combinator Continuity, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz. They join investors Animal Capital (Josh Richard, Noah Beck & Marshall Sandman), musicians Ryan Tedder and DJ Skee with Mint 10, NFL players DeAndre Hopkins and Bobby Wagner, and Jeremy Padawer, among others.
Founded in 2019 by Grant Lafontaine and Logan Head, in less than two years Whatnot has become the biggest live stream shopping platform in the US by purchase. The company has raised a total of $75M in venture funding to date and has expanded from collectibles like FunkoPop and Pokemon cards to a wide range of collectibles including comic books, sports cards, and TCG like YuGiOh, Dragon Ball Z, and Magic: The Gathering cards.
“Logan and I have been buying and selling collectibles online since the early days of the internet, and while others might be surprised by the attention the category has received in the past year, we are tapping into a community we’ve always known was there,” said Whatnot co-founder and CEO Grant Lafontaine. “We’re thrilled that Whatnot has resonated with the collector and enthusiast communities and we’re excited to use these funds to continue to expand and grow the team.”
Whatnot’s live stream shopping platform captures the excitement of the in-person experience, allowing communities and fandoms to connect in real-time and geek out with their favorite sellers over holy grail pieces and new products alike. The company began with collectibles like FunkoPops and Pokemon cards, and has now expanded to nearly fifteen categories on the app. Sports cards in particular has been a recent driving force behind the business with sales growing 80x since the category launched in January 2021. It has become Whatnot’s largest category on the platform, drawing millions of dollars in monthly sales during live stream card breaks and sales.
“Whatnot is the future of shopping. The app combines mobile-based shopping with video in such an elegant way that consumers spend hours being entertained and purchasing products. In such a short time, Logan, Grant and the team at Whatnot have built a live streaming shopping platform that can easily be applied to any product category. Today, the focus is on collectibles; in the near future, Whatnot is eBay 2.0.,” said Hariharan.
“I’ve been working in esports for years and buying and selling childhood favorites like Pokémon and sports cards as a fun side hustle on nights and weekends,” said Whatnot seller Roger Caneda of World Card Traders. “What began as a passion project has become a full-time gig. We now have five people on the team and have leased office space to ensure we can continue to produce high quality shows, auctions and cardbreaks on Whatnot. Without Whatnot, turning my passion into a full-time business would never have been possible.”
About Whatnot
Whatnot is a live stream platform and marketplace that allows collectors and enthusiasts to connect with their community to buy and sell verified products on a safe and secure platform. Whatnot’s live stream shopping platform captures the excitement of the in-person collector experience, allowing communities and fandoms to connect in real-time and geek out with their favorite sellers over holy grail pieces and new products alike. Whatnot is based in Los Angeles, CA and has 40 employees. For more information, visit www.whatnot.com or download the Whatnot app on Android or iOS.
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SOURCE Whatnot
