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raised $20 million in Series A funding to expand its livestream shopping platform and marketplace.

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and co-founded the Los Angeles-based startup in 2019 with the aim of creating a place where avid collectors could come together over shared interests.

鈥淟ogan 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 ,鈥� LaFontaine told 附近上门 News. 鈥淲e saw that they had not been innovated on, and there was an opportunity to build an amazing social commerce experience focused on collectibles and sports cards.鈥�

The platform features live shows by sellers and a community where sellers and buyers can hang out, he added. In addition to the live sales, there are 鈥渃ard breaks鈥� for popular collectibles, including Pokemon cards, sports cards and Funko Pops. Card breaks happen after the sale, when the seller opens up the package of cards to show the buyer what鈥檚 inside.

led the round and was joined by existing investors , , 听补苍诲听, as well as and . In total, Whatnot raised $24.7 million, LaFontaine said. This includes a round raised in December, according to 附近上门 data.

鈥淢any companies are trying to duplicate the success of livestream shopping in the U.S., but while compelling platforms have been built, many have fallen short when it comes to fostering the community that keeps users engaged and coming back again and again,鈥� said , general partner at Andreessen, in a written statement. 鈥淕rant and Logan understand that it鈥檚 about more than functionality, and have tapped into the zeitgeist by engaging buyers and sellers around the products they love most.鈥�

In fact, to come out of the global pandemic, most notably in China. Although and pioneered the television side, this new industry approach has become a .

Back in July, livestreaming shopping app, also based in LA,聽raised $3 million in a seed round聽led by and, to develop a platform that combines social media, e-commerce and entertainment aspects to help retailers build an online community and grow their sales. It now features dozens of sellers touting everything from comic books to wearable art to children鈥檚 books.

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. In addition, the company will expand to 10 categories of collectibles with an aim to scale to hundreds.

鈥淐OVID changed the game and was the accelerant of technology adoption, which has created this opening for us,鈥� he added. 鈥淭here 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.鈥�

Feature photo of founders Logan Head and Grant LaFontaine, as well as inset screenshot courtesy of Whatnot.
Blogroll illustration: iStock