Live-shopping app Whatnot is in talks to nearly double its valuation to $20bn. July 30, 2026 - 8:00 am The startup, which sells everything from sneakers to sports cards over livestream, is raising again barely a year after an $11.5bn round, as live commerce catches on in the West. Whatnot, the livestream-shopping platform where hosts sell sneakers, trading cards, and vinyl to a live audience, is in talks to raise money at a valuation of about $20 billion. The figure would nearly double the $11.5 billion the company was worth as recently as late 2024. The pace of the markup is the story. A near-doubling in under a year puts Whatnot among the fastest-appreciating consumer startups around, at a time when venture money has flowed overwhelmingly toward artificial intelligence rather than shopping apps. Whatnot runs live video auctions and sales across categories from fashion to collectables, taking a commission on each transaction, a model that turns online shopping into something closer to entertainment. The mechanics are half the appeal. A host holds up an item, buyers bid or tap to purchase in real time, and the urgency of a live sale, the countdown, the banter, the scarcity, does work that a static product page never could. The numbers behind it are real. The company says it handled about $8 billion in livestream sales over the past year across North America and Europe, the kind of volume that justifies, at least to its backers, a valuation usually reserved for software firms. The investor roster reads like a who's who. Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia, Lightspeed, and Google's CapitalG have all backed Whatnot, the same names that chase the biggest rounds in technology, now betting that live commerce is more than a novelty. The idea is not new, just newly working in the West. Livestream shopping has been enormous in China for years, where platforms like Taobao turned hosts into salespeople for millions of viewers, and Western investors have long waited for the format to cross over. Whatnot's bet is that it finally has. The company has grown by leaning into niche communities, the collectors and resellers for whom a live auction is both a marketplace and a hangout, rather than trying to be a general store. It has also started buying capability. This month Whatnot acquired Shaped, a startup that builds real-time recommendation systems, a purchase aimed at pointing viewers toward the streams and items most likely to make them spend. That acquisition hints at where the money would go. A larger raise would fund the recommendation engine, expansion in Europe, and the fight for hosts and buyers against social platforms circling the same behaviour. Because the competition is coming. TikTok, Instagram, and Amazon have all pushed into live and social shopping, and Whatnot's independence is both its advantage, a platform built for this alone, and its vulnerability against far larger rivals. The valuation, for now, is a talk rather than a term sheet. Business Insider frames it as a round under discussion, and startup valuations at this stage can move before they are signed, especially in a market as selective as this one. Still, the direction is telling. That investors would price a shopping app at $20 billion, in a year when nearly every large cheque has gone to AI, suggests live commerce has graduated from experiment to category. It also stands out for what it is not. In a funding market fixated on AI models and infrastructure, Whatnot is a reminder that a consumer business with real transactions can still command a software-sized valuation, provided the growth is there. The risk is the one every marketplace faces. Whatnot's value rests on keeping hosts and buyers on the same platform, and that loyalty can erode quickly if a bigger rival offers better terms or a larger audience. For now, the momentum is with the company. A near-$20 billion valuation would confirm that livestream shopping has arrived in the West, and that Whatnot, for the moment, is the name investors are willing to pay up for.

Star Racer is coming to Nintendo Switch in 2026 with music from Grant Kirkhope. Switch version out in Q3. July 24, 2026 [This unedited press release is made available courtesy of Game Developer and its partnership with notable game PR-related resource Games Press] Whatnot Games: Los Angeles, California, July 23 - Whatnot Games and Crossbridge Games are happy to announce that Star Racer, retro-inspired combat racer from developer Whatnot Games, is coming to Nintendo Switch in Q3 2026. Originally funded by a passionate community on Kickstarter, Star Racer combines blistering speed and gravity-defying aerial action across a universe of wild, hazard-filled tracks with OST scored by legendary composer Grant Kirkhope, known for his work on Banjo-Kazooie, GoldenEye 007, and Donkey Kong 64 among others. To celebrate the announcement, the Star Racer OST with additional music from Mason Lieberman and Brennan Anderson is now available on all streaming platforms ahead of the game's Nintendo Switch release. Buckle up and reach for the stars! Star Racer is a high-octane combat racer that takes the streets to new dangerous heights. Inspired by retro classics, Star Racer combines speed, strategy, and sky-splitting action across a universe of wild tracks and unpredictable challenges. Racers will boost through neon-soaked streets, soar through open skies, and battle rivals using a devastating arsenal of weapons all while managing energy between boosting and healing to survive the chaos and cross the finish line by any means necessary. Every track brings its own perils. Racers will blaze across icy terrain, weave through lava-covered courses, and bounce through chaotic roads, all while dodging mines, turrets, and other destructive hazards designed to send them flying. Creativity takes the wheel with the game's robust Track Editor, now featuring online functionality. Players can design their own circuits, set hazards, upload creations, and challenge racers around the world on community-built tracks. Key Features * Heart-Pounding Races: Engage in intense, high-speed battles across intergalactic racetracks. Drift, boost, fire, and soar your way to the front of the pack with cunning strategy and split-second reflexes! But beware the cosmic dangers that lie ahead. Only the most skilled racers will survive the chaos and claim victory. * Concrete & Clouds: Leave the competition in the dust - both on the ground and in the skies! Experience high-octane action with gravity-defying glides and aerial combat. Blaze across pavement, soar through the stars, and make your rivals eat stardust. * Track Editor: Unleash your creativity with a powerful, dynamic track editor. Build challenging circuits, share them with friends, and master the most daring designs. The race is yours to shape! * Event Races: Think fast, adapt faster. Event Races turn traditional racing upside down with wild, unpredictable challenges. Dash across tracks consumed by lava, fend off unexpected interlopers, or master precision-based "break the targets" trials. With fresh scenarios rotating in, no two races are ever the same - only the bold will survive the madness. * Local Multiplayer: Grab up to three friends and dive into split-screen madness! With support for up to 4 players in local multiplayer, Star Racer turns every couch into a launchpad for wild, competitive fun. * Featured Tracks by Grant Kirkhope: In addition to music from Mason Lieberman and Jules Conroy, legendary composer Grant Kirkhope brings his signature flair to the cosmos. Known for classics like Banjo-Kazooie, GoldenEye 007, and Mario + Rabbids, his signature sound fuels select tracks with epic energy. Star Racer launches on Nintendo Switch in Q3 2026. Daily news, dev blogs, and stories from Game Developer straight to your inbox

Whatnot has acquired Shaped, a machine learning company specialising in real-time recommendation and search systems. The deal aims to enhance Whatnot's discovery and personalisation capabilities as the livestream shopping platform expands across new product categories. The acquisition addresses a key challenge in live commerce: helping shoppers find products whilst inventory and demand change in real time. Shaped's technology will help reduce recommendation latency, which Whatnot has already improved from roughly a day to minutes over six years. Shaped founder Tullie Murrell and nearly a dozen engineers will join Whatnot, with Murrell leading a new Applied AI Research group. The deal follows Whatnot's $225 million Series F funding earlier this year, which valued the company at more than $11 billion.