SoftBank leads a $200M investment in fitness tracker startup Whoop, tripling its valuation to $3.6 billion in less than a year

In October 2020, Whoop closed a $100 million in Series E funding with backing from SoftBank, IVP, Eli Manning. The round valued the company at $1.2 billion making the Boston-based health tech startup and the maker of a wearable device a member of the highly coveted unicorn club. Whoop has grown exponentially since our last coverage back then. Whoop’s tracker is now the fitness band of choice for athletes including golfer Justin Thomas, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

Almost a year later after the Series E round, Whoop announced today that it had raised another $200 million in a Series F funding led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2, tripling the company’s valuation to $3.6 billion in less than a year. Whoop said it would use the new capital infusion to invest in research and product development, international expansion, and membership offerings.

Additional backers for the Series F round include venture capital firms IVP, Cavu Ventures, Thursday Ventures, and tech investment bank GP Bullhound.

Founded in 2012 by Will Ahmed (CEO), Aurelian Nicolae, and John Capodilupo, Whoop provides athletes, coaches, and trainers with a continuous understanding of strain and recovery to balance training, reduce injuries, and predict performance. It creates a product that makes individuals and teams perform at a higher level through a deeper understanding of their bodies and daily lives. Its flagship wearable device, the WHOOP Strap 3.0, collects physiological data 24/7 to provide an accurate and granular understanding of the body. WHOOP has more than 330 employees, including over 200 new hires in 2020.

The company provides athletes, coaches, and trainers with a continuous understanding of strain and recovery to balance training, reduce injuries, and predict performance. It creates a product that makes individuals and teams perform at a higher level through a deeper understanding of their bodies and daily lives. The WHOOP Strap 3.0 collects physiological data 24/7 to provide an accurate and granular understanding of the body.

Whoop charges a monthly subscription fee in exchange for providing data to users — collected from the Whoop Strap it supplies at no additional cost — that can influence how they work out, recover and sleep. After four months of use, members dedicated an additional 41 minutes to sleep each night and reduced their resting heart rates by about 4.4 beats per minute, the company touts on its website.

Since its inception nine years ago, WHOOP has raised over $400 million in funding over 9 rounds.

Whoop 3.0 Band