Whatnot raises $20 million, targeting eBay and Facebook

Foreign media reported that the live streaming platform and market Whatnot recently announced that it has raised US$24.7 million in Series A financing and is currently in its start-up phase.

Co-founded in 2019 by former Google and GOAT employees, livestream shopping platform Whatnot is a livestream platform and marketplace that allows collectors and enthusiasts to connect with their community to securely buy and sell authenticated products , specializing in popular collectibles such as Pokemon cards, sports cards, Funko Pops, and more.

After obtaining a new round of financing, it plans to use the funds to hire more people and expand into new categories such as comics, old video games and hardware to expand its existing products. It is reported that the latest round of funding was led by Connie Chan, a general partner of Andreessen Horowitz, who is very familiar with the business model established by Whatnot in the United States and the consumer technology culture in China.

Although $24.7 million is not enough in Silicon Valley, and may just be "beer money" for "Silicon Valley people", Whatnot's early investor Andreessen Horowitz is very eye-catching. Before founding this company, he provided financial support to large companies such as Skype, Twitter, Facebook, Groupon, Zynga and Airbnb, and is a very outstanding talent.

If Whatnot can continue to execute on its business plan and grow its marketplace to the levels it expects, the company shouldn’t have a problem raising cash . At nearly two years old, Whatnot still has a ways to go. The company’s classifieds focus gives it a high overlap with eBay and Facebook , putting it in direct competition with those two giants.

Unlike those two companies, Whatnot is building a modern platform from the ground up for today's increasingly media-literate consumers, combining the best of shopping and social . It can solve pain points now, rather than pinning hopes on future technology upgrades.

"We have many top sellers on our platform who have thriving communities on other platforms, but we had to find a way to make it easy for fans who really want to trade to find what they want," said Logan Head, co-founder of Whatnot. " Inspired by our own experience shopping and selling collectibles online , Whatnot created a space that turns online shopping into entertainment, helping people connect with the things they love, with the goal of making it easier to merge community and commerce . "

Currently, Whatnot has tens of thousands of sellers and tens of thousands of buyers on its platform. The company says many people can expect to make more than six figures on the app , with most of those buyers becoming repeat customers .

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