Whatnot acquires Shaped to strengthen real-time live shopping recommendations

Livestream shopping app Whatnot has acquired machine learning company Shaped to improve real-time product recommendations and personalization.

• Whatnot announced Wednesday that it acquired Shaped, a company specializing in real-time recommendation and search systems.
• Emmanuel Fuentes, Whatnot's VP of Data and AI, said the acquisition will make recommendations faster and more responsive for live commerce.
• Shaped founder and CEO Tullie Murrell and nearly a dozen engineers and AI researchers will join Whatnot, with Murrell leading the Applied AI Research group.
• Whatnot reported that sellers have surpassed one billion orders, and the company raised $225 million in Series F funding earlier this year.