Grant LaFontaine
Coverage of Grant LaFontaine in the Nexus archive.
- Whatnot is in talks to raise a new funding round at a $20 billion valuation
Live shopping startup Whatnot is in talks to raise a new funding round at a $20 billion valuation, up from $11.5 billion last year. The company reported $8 billion in live sales in 2023 and is backed by investors including Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital.
- Whatnot is worth $11.5 billion—and its sellers just hit one billion orders
Whatnot, a live commerce marketplace, has reached an $11.5 billion valuation and achieved one billion orders since its 2020 launch. The platform reported significant growth, including 20 million new accounts and a 285% increase in first-time buyers.
- Twitch CEO: Social media has become ‘anti-social’ and can’t match the shared, human connection of live streaming
Twitch CEO Dan Clancy criticized social media as 'anti-social,' emphasizing live streaming's ability to foster real-time human connection. He and Whatnot CEO Grant LaFontaine highlighted their platforms' focus on shared experiences, contrasting with addictive social media formats. Both leaders discussed challenges in monetizing live-streaming engagement and addressed AI's limited threat to human creators.