By Parsa Saljoughian, Jake Storm, Jules Maltz and Eric Liaw
If we handed you the keys to a car that wouldn’t tell you your speed, fuel-level, or engine temperature, and had disabled the warning lights, would you feel comfortable getting behind the wheel? Probably not, because without vital information to manage the car’s performance, you might fear a bad outcome. Even though most people would not drive a car this way, this is exactly how most people drive their bodies, every single day. That information gap is why we are so excited to lead the $100M Series E financing for WHOOP. From day one, WHOOP has maintained an intense focus on unlocking human performance and has become the gold standard for 24/7 continuous sleep, recovery, and activity monitoring. The company is in hypergrowth mode and we couldn’t be more excited to partner with Will Ahmed, John Capodilupo, and the entire WHOOP team on the journey!
Here’s why we invested:
WHOOP Drives Behavior Change
WHOOP develops a wearable and companion app that automatically tracks workouts, sleep performance, cardiovascular strain, and recovery via continuous physiological monitoring. The strap is worn 24/7 and provides members with a very granular and holistic view of their body’s daily performance. By equipping members with information to make quantified behavioral decisions, WHOOP empowers members to take ownership of their personal health. While using WHOOP, members experience sustained, incremental improvements across four key health indicators: resting heart rate, heart rate variability, sleep consistency, and time in bed. Members also consume alcohol (“the recovery killer”) 79% less often before bed! It is through this deep behavioral change that WHOOP can maintain best-in-class user engagement. This engagement, in turn, serves as a gateway for WHOOP to continue to launch coaching AI, content, and community features that help drive sustained behavior change and health improvements.
Accelerating Market Demand
Now more than ever, consumers are eager for control over their health. The market demand for personalized health products continues to expand at a rapid pace as the importance of health and sleep monitoring comes to the forefront of human wellness. WHOOP has exhibited extremely strong organic market pull from individuals, athletes, enterprises, and other groups that are interested in better understanding their bodies. WHOOP has also gained rapid awareness by helping members (and even one pro golfer) detect early stages of COVID-19 and through its partnerships with the NFLPA, PGA, and LPGA. Celebrities that love WHOOP include NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes, world top 5 golfers Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas, and two-time CrossFit Games champion Katrín Davíðsdóttir. But WHOOP isn’t just for elite athletes, the company is running a full year ahead of plan because the need to know more about our bodies is resonating with consumers everywhere. In the last 12 months, the WHOOP membership has grown by more than 5x.
Integrated Hardware + Software Experience
WHOOP has a best-in-class integrated hardware and software experience, supported by a subscription model, reminding us in many ways of our prior investment in Dropcam. WHOOP sensors collect continuous physiological data at high sampling frequency, enabling WHOOP to deliver granular and accurate data that surpasses the capabilities of similar products in the market. The company takes this data and through its proprietary algorithms, synthesizes it into digestible scores across cardiovascular strain, recovery, and sleep that members can act on. The company’s data around heart rate monitoring, sleep staging, and behavior change has been validated by third party studies. Having the hardware and software work together in real-time at high accuracy is no easy feat!
“You can’t improve what you don’t measure”
WHOOP has built an incredible business so far, but we are only at the tip of the iceberg. It is our view that by capitalizing on market demand, launching new software features, and developing new products, WHOOP will become a major brand at the cross-section of fitness, health, and technology. The future is bright, and we couldn’t be more excited to partner with Will, John, and the entire WHOOP team to unlock human performance. Whoop Whoop!
