Livestream shopping platform Whatnot has acquired Shaped, a machine learning startup that specializes in AI-powered search and recommendation technology for fast-moving marketplaces. 

The acquisition is part of Whatnot’s broader push to use AI to improve product discovery across its platform, where inventory changes constantly, live shows start and end throughout the day, and buyer preferences can shift in real time, TechCrunch reported. By integrating Shaped’s technology into its existing systems, Whatnot said it aims to deliver recommendations that are faster, more accurate, and more personalized for users.

Benzinga contacted Whatnot for comment, but did not receive a response at the time of publication.

Emmanuel Fuentes, Whatnot’s vice president of data and AI, told TechCrunch that the company has spent years reducing delays in its recommendation engine, cutting the time needed to update suggestions from roughly a day to just minutes. Shaped’s technology is expected to help accelerate that process further.

Founded to help companies build AI-powered search and recommendation products, Shaped combines customer data, large language models, and machine learning techniques to deliver more personalized results. The startup’s customers have included companies such as Outdoorsy and QVC.

As part of the acquisition, Shaped founder and CEO Tullie Murrell will join Whatnot along with nearly a dozen engineers and AI researchers. Murrell will lead a newly created applied AI research group at Whatnot after previously working at Meta.

The acquisition comes as Whatnot continues to expand rapidly since launching in 2019. The company said sellers on its platform have surpassed 1 billion orders, while its buyer base grew by 20 million users over the past year. Last year, Whatnot raised $225 million in Series F funding at a valuation above $11 billion.

The company has also been broadening its marketplace beyond its original focus on collectibles. Whatnot said it added more than 35 categories last year and another 45-plus categories in the first half of 2026, with new subcategories continuing to roll out.

The Shaped acquisition highlights a growing push among commerce platforms to use AI as competition intensifies around product discovery.

Major resale and marketplace companies, including eBay and Poshmark, have also been investing in AI tools designed to improve search.

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