Whatnot hits 1 billion orders and raises $545 million Series G funding

Having recently recorded their 1 billionth order on the platform, live selling platform Whatnot have announced a $545 million Series G funding round to further grow the marketplace.

Launched in 2019 as a marketplace for Funko Pops when most people in the West had never even heard of live shopping, Whatnot’s growth to one billion orders makes it one of the fastest-growing marketplaces ever to reach this milestone. Today, Whatnot spans hundreds of categories. Fashion has become their biggest category by order volume.

Buyers are jumping between categories more than ever, up 170% over the past year alone. Today, more than 20 items are sold every second. The funding goes towards supporting the businesses building on Whatnot, bringing more buyers to their shows through marketing that introduces live shopping to people who’ve never tried it.

Whatnot are also investing in trust, because buyers return to a marketplace they believe in, and that’s what turns a first purchase into a regular one. And they’re opening new categories, bringing Whatnot to new markets, and building tools, including AI-assisted ones, that handle the busywork so sellers can focus on what only they can do: going live.

But it’s not all plain sailing at Whatnot, compulsive spending has been highlighted as a problem for some buyers in the WSJ, with stories of Sean Harding spending an astounding $1,362,687. 31 on Whatnot over time and ending up losing his job and marriage in the process and having to sell his house, car and empty his retirement fund to clear his debts.

Compulsive spending isn’t the norm however, but complaints have surfaced that the frenetic pace of Whatnot can lead to overbidding and buyers paying more than an item is actually worth. That’s been the case in in-person auctions since time immemorial and we’ve all overpaid on on online auction when we really really wanted something.

However with Whatnot sales taking sixty seconds to end, there’s very little time to sense check yourself or research the value of a product… it’s all too easy to swipe right to place a bid.

With 650,000 people joining Whatnot each week, this year the marketplace has already passed the $8 billion GMV they achieved in last year and they’ve more than doubled the number of sellers with over $1 million in lifetime sales in the past 12 months. It’s estimated that those earning a full-time living on the platform has grown by 25%.

When you think live shopping, you might be thinking TikTok or eBay who’s live shopping is growing rapidly, but Whatnot are estimated to have captured about 60% of the live shopping market in Europe and North America. The latest funding round now values Whatnot at valuation to $20 billion, having now raised around $1.

5 billion in funding rounds, and with more than 20 items are sold every second there no sign of Whatnot slowing down.