# Grant LaFontaine

> Grant LaFontaine is the co-founder and CEO of Whatnot, the Los Angeles-based live-shopping marketplace he started with Logan Head in 2019. A childhood Pokémon-card seller who later worked in product at YouTube and Facebook and co-founded Kit, LaFontaine helped turn an early Funko Pop marketplace into a live-commerce business that reported more than $8 billion in 2025 gross merchandise value and raised $545 million at a $20 billion valuation in August 2026.

- **Role:** Co-founder and CEO at Whatnot
- **Organizations:** Whatnot, Kit, Facebook, Google, YouTube, Y Combinator
- **Education:** BA in Economics, Cornell University, Winter 2020 batch, Y Combinator
- **Known for:** Co-founded Whatnot and led it from a niche collectibles marketplace into a global live-shopping platform spanning hundreds of categories., Helped Whatnot reach more than $8 billion in gross merchandise value in 2025, compared with $3 billion in 2024., Led Whatnot through a $545 million Series G financing in August 2026 at a $20 billion valuation.

## Career timeline

- **Before 2015** — Worked at Google, including as a product marketing manager at YouTube.
- **2015** — Co-founded Kit, a social-shopping platform where creators recommended products to followers.
- **2018** — Kit was acquired by Patreon; the deal was announced in June.
- **Before 2019** — Worked as a product manager at Facebook on AR/VR, including the Oculus App Store.
- **2019** — Co-founded Whatnot with Logan Head, initially as a marketplace for collectibles.
- **2020** — Joined Y Combinator's Winter batch; after the program moved online, the founders worked from a rented Phoenix house and launched live selling.
- **2021** — Whatnot raised a $22.6 million Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz and expanded its live marketplace.
- **2022** — Whatnot raised a $260 million Series D at a $3.7 billion valuation.
- **2025** — Whatnot reported more than $8 billion in annual gross merchandise value, up from $3 billion in 2024.
- **2026** — Whatnot crossed one billion total orders and raised a $545 million Series G at a $20 billion valuation.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Whatnot and led it from a niche collectibles marketplace into a global live-shopping platform spanning hundreds of categories.
- Helped Whatnot reach more than $8 billion in gross merchandise value in 2025, compared with $3 billion in 2024.
- Led Whatnot through a $545 million Series G financing in August 2026 at a $20 billion valuation.
- Helped the marketplace pass one billion total orders in 2026, with more than 20 items selling per second at the milestone.
- Co-founded Kit, which helped creators generate tens of millions of dollars in product sales before Patreon acquired it in 2018.
- Named to the Los Angeles Business Journal's LA500 in 2024.

## Latest updates

- **2026-09** — Discussed Whatnot's path from its first 1,000 users to a $20 billion valuation on the My First Million podcast.
- **2026-09** — Whatnot lowered commission rates and introduced live audience analytics; LaFontaine also highlighted that one in three employees works in trust and safety.
- **2026-08** — Whatnot announced $545 million in Series G funding at a $20 billion valuation, co-led by ICONIQ, Lightspeed and Avra.
- **2026-06** — Whatnot announced it had passed one billion total orders, with more than 20 items selling each second.
- **2026-05** — Inc. reported that Whatnot generated more than $8 billion in 2025 platform sales and was on track to surpass $1 billion in annual revenue in 2026.

## Links

- Website: https://www.whatnot.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grantlafontaine
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/GrantLaFontaine

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/grant-lafontaine
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-26