The valuation of wearable fitness tracker startup Whoop has tripled after a $200 million Series F round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2.
The Boston company, which first hit "unicorn" status last October with a valuation of $1.2 billion, now claims a $3.6 billion valuation, making it "the most valuable standalone human performance company in the world," per a statement. This is the second time SoftBank has infused money into Whoop, but the first time it is acting as a lead investor. Kristin Bannon, investment director at SoftBank Investment Advisers, is joining the company's board of directors in concert with the Series F announcement
Whoop is behind an eponymous wristband capable of tracking the wearer's activity, exercise, food, weight and sleep. The company sells the device and its companion software as part of a membership of $30 per month for a six-month commitment, among other deals.
Whoop currently employs about 500 people, nearly half of whom have joined in the last year as the company seeks to take advantage of the home fitness boom. Founder and CEO Will Ahmed has previously attributed his company's growth to the Covid-19 pandemic, which he says has "shifted consumer psychology," driving people to understand fitness monitoring as a crucial aspect of personal health.
Other homegrown health tech companies are seizing onto the home health trend as well, including interactive workout machine makers Liteboxer and Hydrow and telehealth firm Amwell (NYSE: AMWL), which went public last year.
Whoop plans to double in size again in short order. The company recently announced plans to occupy 121,000 square feet at One Kenmore Square for its corporate headquarters by mid-2022; that office will have capacity for 1,000 employees.
Most of Whoop's hiring will take place on the engineering, data science and analytics teams, the company said. Beyond hiring, Whoop will use the Series F round to enter new, international markets; acquire other tech companies; and expand "Whoop Live," a feature that allows members to overlay their live data over videos and images. In particular, the company says it will use Whoop Live to create a bridge between its customers and professional athletes through biometric data visualization.
"While we have experienced amazing growth in the past year, the potential of our technology and the vast market for health monitoring remains largely untapped," Ahmed said in the statement.
IVP, Cavu Ventures, Thursday Ventures, GP Bullhound, Accomplice, NextView Ventures and Animal Capital also invested in the round.
