Key facts
- Whatnot acquired machine learning company Shaped.
- The acquisition aims to improve real-time product recommendations for live shopping.
- Shaped's technology combines customer data with LLMs and machine learning.
- Tullie Murrell, founder of Shaped, will lead Whatnot's Applied AI Research group.
- Whatnot has seen significant growth, surpassing one billion orders and raising $225 million in Series F funding.
Livestream shopping platform Whatnot announced Wednesday its acquisition of Shaped, a company focused on machine learning for real-time recommendation and search systems. This strategic move is intended to enhance Whatnot's discovery and personalization features as it expands into new product categories and serves millions of buyers.
The integration of Shaped's technology is expected to address a key challenge in live commerce: providing relevant product recommendations amidst rapidly changing inventory and buyer demand. Unlike traditional e-commerce, Whatnot's marketplace is dynamic, with auctions concluding quickly.
Emmanuel Fuentes, VP of Data and AI at Whatnot, stated that the combined technologies will enable faster, more responsive, and personalized recommendations, crucial for the fast-paced nature of live commerce. He noted that Whatnot has already reduced its recommendation latency from approximately a day to minutes over the past six years, and this acquisition aims to bring it even closer to real-time.
Shaped, founded to assist businesses in building AI-powered recommendation systems, utilizes customer data combined with large language models and machine learning. Its previous clients included Outdoorsy and QVC. Tullie Murrell, Shaped's founder and CEO, along with about a dozen engineers and AI researchers, will join Whatnot, with Murrell heading the new Applied AI Research group.
The acquisition occurs as Whatnot experiences substantial growth, having surpassed one billion orders. The company recently secured $225 million in Series F funding, valuing it at over $11 billion, and has added 20 million buyers in the last year. Whatnot has also significantly expanded its marketplace offerings, introducing numerous new categories.