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Whatnot announced a $265 million Series E on January 8, 2025. TechCrunch reported the round valued the livestream-shopping marketplace at $4.97 billion—nearly $5 billion at the time, not its current valuation.
What happened in Whatnot’s Series E
TechCrunch reported that Whatnot raised $265 million in the round, co-led by Avra, DST Global and Greycroft. The other participating investors it named were Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), CapitalG, BOND, Durable Capital Partners and Y Combinator. Greycroft also confirmed its role as a co-lead alongside DST Global and Avra, describing the valuation as nearly $5 billion. TechCrunch’s January 2025 report and Greycroft’s account of the round provide the contemporaneous details.
What Whatnot does
Whatnot is a marketplace where sellers present products through live video and buyers can shop during streams. TechCrunch described its early focus as sports trading cards, action figures, comics and memorabilia, followed by expansion into categories such as accessories, clothing, electronics and live plants. The platform uses formats including sudden-death auctions and flash sales. TechCrunch’s coverage describes the company and its formats.
How Whatnot said it planned to use the money
At the time of the announcement, Whatnot planned to expand into categories including art, golf and vinyl, and to develop seller tools. TechCrunch reported that one planned tool would simplify inventory and order management. These were stated intentions, not confirmation that every expansion or tool was subsequently delivered.
TechCrunch also reported a planned first tender offer to buy back up to $72 million in shares. That was a reported plan; the announcement does not establish that the offer was completed.
Whatnot’s reported scale—and what the figures mean
TechCrunch reported that Whatnot’s annual livestream gross merchandise volume (GMV) had passed $3 billion by January 2025, following an earlier report of more than $2 billion. Greycroft separately said Whatnot surpassed $3 billion GMV in 2024 and operated in more than 140 categories and nine countries. Those are reported operating figures and an investor’s claims, not audited financial results. GMV measures the value of transactions facilitated, not company revenue or profit. TechCrunch and Greycroft give the respective figures.
The $4.97 billion valuation is historical
The nearly $5 billion figure belongs to the January 2025 Series E. It should not be read as Whatnot’s present valuation. Later financing announcements changed the context:
| Round | Capital raised | Reported valuation | Source and date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Series E | $265 million | $4.97 billion | TechCrunch, January 8, 2025; report |
| Series F | $225 million | $11.5 billion | Los Angeles Times, November 2025; report |
| Series G | $545 million | $20 billion | Whatnot announced the round in August 2026; the company attached the valuation to the round. Whatnot announcement |
These are private-company financing valuations reported at different times, not market prices for publicly traded shares. The Series F figure was reported by the Los Angeles Times; the Series G valuation is attributed to Whatnot. The company’s news page lists the Series G announcement.
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The raise gave Whatnot capital to pursue the category growth and seller-product development it described, while the round’s reported valuation reflected investor pricing at that financing—not a guarantee of future performance or a measure of what every shareholder could realize. Greycroft framed its investment thesis around live video commerce: combining the interaction of in-person retail with the reach of a digital platform. That is the lead investor’s perspective, rather than an independent assessment of the business.
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