What to know:
- Robinhood invests $30 million in Whatnot through its latest preferred stock purchase.
- Whatnot secures $545 million in Series G funding at a company valuation of $20 billion.
- Robinhood reports $1.31 billion in Q2 net revenue as net income reaches $573 million.
Robinhood Ventures Fund I invested about $30 million in Whatnot preferred stock. The purchase joined Whatnot’s $545 million Series G financing round. The transaction closed August 5 and valued the shopping company at $20 billion.
The fund disclosed the investment on Friday in an official announcement about the completed transaction. Robinhood said its venture vehicle bought the preferred stock as part of the wider Series G financing round.
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Why Robinhood Fund Invested in Whatnot
In a statement from Sarah Pinto, president of Robinhood Ventures Fund I, she said that Whatnot is reimagining live shopping for consumers.
The platform is also changing the way people buy and sell a range of products online. Pinto described Whatnot as a frontier private company that she believes should be accessible to retail investors.
According to Pinto, the investment gives RVI shareholders exposure to Whatnot through their holdings in the fund.
Whatnot calls itself the largest live shopping platform in the regions where it currently operates. Its marketplace covers trading cards, comic books, fashion, beauty products, and consumer electronics.
Robinhood Fund Investment Follows Strong Q2 Results
Robinhood Ventures Fund I represents the first fund created and launched by the group’s venture division. The publicly traded investment vehicle was structured to give its shareholders access to chosen private-market investments.
Its structure lets investors hold shares in the fund while it deploys capital into selected private portfolio companies.
The deal followed Robinhood Markets’ second-quarter 2026 earnings results, which were released on July 29.
Total net revenue for the reporting period reached $1.31 billion in the quarter ended June 30, 2026. That total marked a 32% increase from the same three-month period in 2025.
Income reported in the second quarter jumped 48% compared to a year ago, hitting $573 million. On the other hand, diluted earnings per share (EPS) were up 48% at $0.62 compared to the same period last year.
What Drove Robinhood’s $129M Gain in the Second Quarter
According to Robinhood, this reported EPS included gains of $0.14 per share, or approximately $129 million.
These gains were primarily driven by deconsolidation of RVI as a result of the divestment of part of the company’s holdings in the publicly traded fund. Excluding this, underlying EPS stood at around $0.48, while adjusted EBITDA gained 35% year over year to reach $741 million.
Revenue based on transactions grew 44% from last year to reach $776 million. Conversely, crypto transaction revenue dropped 38% from last year to $100 million. This marked the lowest segment of revenues reported in the quarterly report from the company.
Total operating expenses in the second quarter rose 33% to $734 million. Among the reasons cited by the company were marketing expenses and costs for new lines of business. This figure included one-time restructuring costs resulting from the workforce reduction announced in June.
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