Livestream Shopping Platform Whatnot Inks $20M Series A, Targets Lovers Of Collectibles
Summary
“Logan and I have been buyers and sellers of collectibles for years, mainly selling Pokemon cards, but we found it painful to use some of the existing big players, like eBay,” LaFontaine told Crunchbase News. “Grant and Logan understand that it’s about more than functionality, and have tapped into the zeitgeist by engaging buyers and sellers around the products they love most.” In fact, livestream shopping is one of the hotter trends to come out of the global pandemic, most notably in China. Back in July, livestreaming shopping app Popshop Live, also based in LA, raised $3 million in a seed round led by Floodgate and Abstract Ventures, to develop a platform that combines social media, e-commerce and entertainment aspects to help retailers build an online community and grow their sales. Meanwhile, Whatnot intends to invest the new funds into building out its team in marketing and product development to be able to offer new features and attract new buyers and sellers onto the app, LaFontaine said. “There is excitement for a live shopping product, and we are among a handful of smaller players, but by focusing on communities, it will be a huge driver of why people will want to join live.” Feature photo of founders Logan Head and Grant LaFontaine, as well as inset screenshot courtesy of Whatnot.