Whoop raises $100 mln, valuing the fitness tracker startup at $1.2 bln

Reuters
·1 min read

Oct 28 (Reuters) - Fitness tracker startup Whoop said on Wednesday it raised $100 million in Series E funding from investors including venture capital firm IVP and SoftBank Vision Fund 2, valuing the company at $1.2 billion.

Popular athletes like 10-time NBA All-Star Kevin Durant, Super Bowl MVPs Patrick Mahomes and Eli Manning, among others, also participated in the funding round, the company said in a statement http://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20201028:nPnRsG5Ga.

Boston-based Whoop said it would primarily use the new funds for product and software development, global expansion and membership services.

Whoop also offers a monthly subscription for round-the-clock health monitoring through a free fitness band it provides with the membership.

The company's tracker is the fitness band of choice for a host of pro-athletes. The PGA Tour had bought 1,000 Whoop bands for players, caddies and media covering the golf tournament.

Whoop founder Will Ahmed said customers were increasingly using the technology to measure their respiratory rate, which is a key statistic for understanding COVID-19.

Founded in 2012, the company said it has raised over $200 million till date.

(Reporting by Ayanti Bera in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)