US startup with Romanian co-founder reaches USD 3.6 bln valuation

WHOOP, a US health-tech startup co-founded a Romanian engineer and Harvard graduate, raised USD 200 million in a Series F financing round, reaching a valuation of USD 3.6 billion.

The company’s value has tripled since November 2020 when it raised USD 100 mln at a valuation of USD 1.2 bln.

The new round was led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2. WHOOP says it is now the most valuable standalone human performance company in the world.

The past twelve months have been marked by rapid growth in WHOOP membership and additional product enhancements to its technology.

“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,” said WHOOP founder and CEO Will Ahmed.

WHOOP provides a membership for 24/7 coaching to improve health and free hardware to collect data on heart rate and other body parameters.

Founded in 2012, WHOOP has raised about USD 400 mln to date and currently has a team of over 500 employees.

Romanian engineer Aurelian Nicolae is one of WHOOP’s three co-founders and the company’s Lead Product Engineer.

(Photo: Artur Szczybylo/ Dreamstime)