Eight-Year Overnight Success — Unlocking Human Potential
“Feelings are overrated.”
This thesis is what set Will Ahmed and John Capodilupo in 2012 to start Whoop with the vision of measuring and improving human health through unique and real-time data insights about our bodies. We think we know what our bodies are telling us about strain and recovery, but in reality we are clueless. Whoop exists to fill this void.
We first met Will back in June 2013 at Harvard’s Innovation Lab where they had already iterated on seven prototypes. The first page of their deck stated “People lack quantifiable, physiological data about their bodies. We need motivational, predictive and actionable feedback.” Incredibly, this line still rings true today.
Promus Ventures was fortunate to invest in Whoop’s seed round back in 2013 and has been privileged to invest in every round since, including today’s $100M Series E announcement. Our friends at IVP led the round, and we’re excited to have them as lead investors.
From sitting in early board meetings where Will, John and their four other employees would show us rugged new Whoop band prototypes to the now 330 talented employees, their success is not about being lucky or in the right place at the right time. The core reason we love working with talented founders like Will and John is that we get to watch something go from nothing to something, and have a front row seat at just how much grit, determination and perseverance is needed to build successful companies.
Nothing is easy folks — if starting a company would be easy, everyone would be doing it. Will and John and so much of the early team are still together, working harder than ever, and continue to be focused on what lies ahead as they truly believe there is so much more to accomplish.
Having peeked into what the team is planning for the future, our lives will continue to improve using Whoop by better understanding how to work and listen to our bodies. The power of the Company’s training data and predictive analytics allow it to navigate the world ahead. For example, as COVID-19 quickly emerged earlier this year, Whoop was immediately able to help users navigate the virus by using the band’s respiratory rate data to show if this indicator has spiked or not, a predictive data set for possibly contracting this lower respiratory virus. The Company is currently partnering with the Cleveland Clinic to use its data to further study the virus.
The Whoop strap has an integral part of our daily lives at Promus Ventures for years now and will continue to be for many years to come. We hope you give it a try.
Here are Whoop’s Series E Round press release and membership update.
Round coverage included CNBC, Bloomberg, Reuters, and GolfWeek.
Recipients of this post are not to construe it as investment, legal, or tax advice, and it is not intended to provide the basis for any evaluation of an investment in any fund. Prospective investors should consult with their own legal, investment, tax, accounting, and other advisors to determine the potential benefits, burdens, and risks associated with making an investment in any fund.
