Dwell-shopping startup Whatnot plans to develop its new Seattle outpost following a $225 million funding spherical announced this week.
The corporate goals to rent greater than 75 workers within the area over the subsequent six months — tripling its present native headcount — throughout product, engineering, and associated roles.
Whatnot opened its downtown Seattle workplace earlier this yr. The Los Angeles-based firm, now valued at $11.5 billion (up from $5 billion a yr in the past), stated the Seattle growth is one in every of its largest expertise investments up to now.
Based in 2019, Whatnot’s platform mixes e-commerce and livestream leisure. Sellers host reside video reveals on the Whatnot app or web site, auctioning or promoting merchandise in actual time. Patrons can watch, chat, and bid instantly throughout reside streams.
The New York Times described the development as “QVC for the TikTok period.” Whatnot competes in opposition to the likes of TikTok (TikTok Store) and Seattle-based e-commerce big Amazon (Amazon Dwell).
Whatnot facilitates transactions between patrons and sellers, and handles funds, logistics, and security options. The corporate earns income by taking a fee — usually round 8% — on gross sales made by sellers starting from unbiased entrepreneurs to established retailers.
Whatnot greater than doubled reside gross sales on its platform this yr, to $6 billion. Patrons spend greater than 80 minutes per day on Whatnot’s reside reveals, based on the corporate. Whatnot shouldn’t be worthwhile.
A few of its fastest-growing classes embrace magnificence, ladies’s trend, purses, electronics, antiques, cash, golf, snacks, and reside vegetation.
The corporate’s Seattle workplace focuses on product and engineering, together with areas corresponding to machine studying, market integrity, and belief & security. Whatnot has 900 workers throughout its workforce.
Dan Bear, vp of engineering, and Kelda Murphy, vp of expertise acquisition, are each primarily based in Seattle. Bear beforehand opened Seattle places of work for Snap, Hulu, and CloudKitchens.
Whatnot is one in every of more than 130 companies that function satellite tv for pc places of work within the Seattle area, tapping into the realm’s technical expertise pool.
The corporate has 31 open positions on its jobs web page. It’s internet hosting an engineering and product networking event in Seattle on Nov. 4.
