Whatnot has acquired machine learning startup Shaped to improve product discovery and personalization across its livestream shopping marketplace. The deal will bring Shaped’s real-time recommendation and search technology into a platform where inventory, auctions and buyer interest can change within seconds.
The companies did not disclose the financial terms. Shaped confirmed the acquisition on its website, while Whatnot said the deal would support its continued investment in AI-powered shopping tools.
Whatnot wants to help users find relevant products and live shows more quickly as it expands into new categories. Unlike traditional online stores with relatively stable catalogues, Whatnot’s inventory changes constantly as sellers begin broadcasts, add products and complete auctions.
Shaped Will Push Recommendations Closer to Real Time
Whatnot vice president of data and AI Emmanuel Fuentes said the company has spent six years reducing the time needed to update recommendations from about a day to several minutes. Shaped’s technology is expected to bring those suggestions even closer to real time.
Whatnot processes more than 500,000 hours of live video and millions of user interactions each week, according to the company. Those signals can include searches, clicks, purchases and activity during individual livestreams.
Shaped developed machine learning infrastructure that combines customer data, large language models and ranking systems to provide personalized search and recommendations. Its technology is designed to continuously learn from changing user and product information rather than relying only on periodic model updates.
The company previously worked with businesses including Outdoorsy and QVC. Its recommendation platform supports personalized feeds, product suggestions, search results and other discovery experiences.
Shaped Team Joins Whatnot
Shaped founder and chief executive Tullie Murrell will join Whatnot and lead its newly formed Applied AI Research group. Nearly a dozen Shaped engineers and AI researchers are also moving to the livestream shopping company.
Murrell previously worked at Meta before founding Shaped. The team will focus on improving Whatnot’s recommendation systems and applying AI to other parts of the marketplace.
The acquisition comes during a period of rapid expansion for Whatnot. The company said its sellers have completed more than 1 billion orders, while more than 20 million buyers joined the platform over the past year.
Whatnot raised $225 million in Series F funding last year, valuing the company at $11.5 billion. It has also expanded beyond its early focus on collectibles, adding categories including art, golf and vinyl.
The marketplace launched more than 35 categories last year and added more than 45 during the first half of 2026. Whatnot is betting that stronger recommendations will help users navigate that growing selection without losing the fast-moving experience that distinguishes live shopping.
The deal also reflects a wider effort by resale and marketplace companies to use AI for search and personalization. Competitors including eBay and Poshmark are adding similar tools as online marketplaces compete to match shoppers with relevant products more efficiently.
Featured image credits: Icon by ludothegreat
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