Grant LaFontaine
Co-founder and CEO of Whatnot
Grant LaFontaine is the co-founder and CEO of Whatnot, a livestream shopping marketplace he started with Logan Head in 2019 and took through Y Combinator's Winter 2020 batch. He hosted its first live auction, selling Funko Pop figures. Before Whatnot he held product roles at YouTube and Facebook and co-founded Kit, a startup Patreon acquired. He studied economics at Cornell.
- Livestream shopping
- Marketplaces
- Collectibles
Whatnot
Y Combinator
- Now
- Co-founder and CEO, Whatnot2
- Company
- Whatnot, founded 2019, Los Angeles1
- Y Combinator
- Winter 2020 batch1
- Education
- BA in Economics, Cornell University3
Experience
Whatnot2019 – now
- Co-founder and CEO2019 – now
Launched the livestream shopping app with Logan Head in December 2019 and hosted its first live auction. Whatnot started with collectibles and now sells across more than 250 product categories.4
KitBefore 2019
- Co-founderBefore 2019
Kit was later acquired by Patreon.3
Facebook (now Meta)Before 2019
- Product manager6Before 2019
YouTube (Google)Before 2019
- Product role3Before 2019
Education
Cornell UniversityYears not public
BA, Economics3
Milestones
- Launches the Whatnot app with Logan Head4
- Whatnot joins Y Combinator's Winter 2020 batch1
- Hosts Whatnot's first livestream, which sells about $5,000 of Funko Pops in a few hours5
- Whatnot raises a $20 million Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz6
- Whatnot raises $150 million at a $1.5 billion valuation7
- Whatnot acquires Pastel Labs; its founder, Jeff Chang, becomes head of growth8
- Whatnot raises a $260 million Series D at a $3.7 billion valuation9
- Whatnot raises a $265 million Series E at a $4.97 billion valuation10
- Whatnot raises $225 million at an $11.5 billion valuation11
- Whatnot is named to TIME's 100 Most Influential Companies of 202611
- Whatnot's sellers pass one billion orders5
- Whatnot raises $545 million at a $20 billion valuation12