Whatnot Inc., a livestream shopping platform that competes with TikTok Shop, raised $265 million at a valuation of $4.97 billion.
The mentioned money was received by the company as part of a financing round led by Greycroft Partners, DST Global, and Avra.
Whatnot was founded in 2019. This company has emerged as an alternative to TikTok’s shopping features. The total value of goods sold on the brand’s platform last year was fixed at over $3 billion. In this case, it refers, among other things, to products such as vinyl records, handbags, collectibles, and sneakers.
Whatnot co-founder and chief executive officer Grant LaFontaine, during a conversation with media representatives, stated that the possibilities for what live and social commerce can do for sellers and their businesses are pretty tremendous. It was also noted separately that this will be one of those things that will change all categories and parts of retail.
Whatnot is based in Los Angeles. The company’s functional ecosystem includes thousands of sellers in several countries, including the United States, Canada, Germany, and France. The firm’s data shows that over 175,000 hours of livestreams are hosted on its platform each week.
The ability to turn shopping into entertainment has made real-time selling successful in parts of the Asia-Pacific region, where ByteDance Ltd., TikTok’s parent company, is based. Since then, TikTok Shop has become a major part of the firm’s business in the United States. Last year, the company’s executives planned to sell goods through the mentioned platform for a total amount exceeding $17 billion.
It is worth noting separately that the Whatnot’s funding round was held in anticipation of the TikTok ban in the United States. ByteDance has until January 19th to sell its specified subsidiary in the US. It is highly likely that Whatnot will become an unintentional beneficiary of the mentioned ban. In this case, it implies a realistic prospect that a significant part of the sellers interacting with TikTok Shop will switch to the specified company’s platform.
As we have reported earlier, Obligo Raises $35 Million.
