Core VC vs ICONIQ

Investor Presentation Released: ICONIQ Growth

AI parsed presentation narrative: The AI market has shifted from proving technology works to proving it generates sustainable business value and economic returns. Software builders are successfully scaling AI products towards half of total revenues while expanding gross margins through multi-model optimization, advanced pricing strategies, and flatter, more cross-functional organizational designs. Strategic pillars: Transitioning from GenAI experimentation to sustainable unit economics, Scaling Forward-Deployed Engineering (FDE) models to drive enterprise contract values.

Rillet raises $100M Series C at $1B valuation

Rillet, an AI-native accounting startup, announced a $100 million Series C at a $1 billion valuation led by ICONIQ, with returning investors including Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia. The round closed within 48 hours, bringing total capital raised to roughly $200 million since emerging from stealth in 2024. Rillet serves about 600 customers—including public companies—and says it doubled ARR in the past three months. Its agentic AI general-ledger and ERP automation platform is designed to replace legacy systems (Intuit, NetSuite, Oracle), supports model routing, prevents customer data from being used to train foundation models, and provides governance and audit trails for agent decisions. An alliance with EY aims to embed these AI tools into finance and audit workflows, reflecting rapid investor interest in AI-native back-office software.

• Rillet raised $100 million in a Series C at a $1 billion valuation led by ICONIQ; returning investors include Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia.
• The Series C closed within 48 hours; total capital raised is roughly $200 million to date after emerging from stealth in 2024.
• Rillet reports about 600 customers (including public companies) and says it doubled ARR in the past three months; it claims 50% of customers migrated from Intuit.

Whatnot Valued at $20 Billion Amid Live Shopping Boom

Whatnot said it closed a $545 million Series G round at a $20 billion valuation, nearly doubling its value from under a year earlier. The live-shopping marketplace reported more than 650,000 new users joining weekly, had passed $8 billion in gross merchandise volume last year, and says it commands roughly 60% of the roughly $22 billion live commerce market. The Series G was led by Iconiq, Lightspeed and Avra. Whatnot plans to invest the new capital in seller tools, AI features, market expansion and buyer reach, according to co-founder and CEO Grant LaFontaine. The article notes rising competition from eBay, Fanatics and TikTok’s Shop Live and references prior funding rounds including a $225 million Series F led by DST Global and CapitalG in October 2025.

• Whatnot closed a $545 million Series G round at a $20 billion valuation.
• Whatnot says it commands roughly 60% of the live-commerce market, which it values at more than $22 billion.
• Whatnot reports more than 650,000 new people joining its platform each week and passed $8 billion in gross merchandise volume last year.