Performance monitoring platform Whoop expands into smart apparel

By

Robin Driver

Published
Sep 8, 2021

Backed by new funding, Boston-based personal fitness membership service Whoop has announced the launch of Whoop Body, a line of smart apparel featuring the latest in the company’s performance-monitoring technology.  

 
Whoop Body is available in two collections: The Training Collection and The Intimates Collection. The former includes sports bras, compression tops, leggings, shorts and athletic boxers, while the latter offers bralettes and everyday boxers. Prices range from $54 to $109.
 
The apparel features Whoop’s Any-Wear Technology, which can be used with the latest generation of the platform’s 24/7 digital fitness and health coach: the Whoop 4.0, also launched by the company on Wednesday. Indeed, Whoop Body pieces can only be purchased in combination with the Whoop 4.0, available free with a Whoop subscription, starting at $18 a month.

A sensor device which collects data on performance and activity and relays it to the Whoop phone app and cloud platform in order to give users lifestyle and work-out recommendations, the Whoop 4.0 features a number of improvements over its previous incarnations. Formerly, the sensor focused on data related to heart rate, but its latest version includes new features that calculate blood oxygen levels, measure skin temperature and monitor sleep cycles, meaning that the device can even serve as an alarm clock that wakes the wearer with gentle vibrations at a time that it has determined is optimal.
 
Previously, Whoop devices were essentially limited to being worn smartwatch-style via the Whoop Band, but the launch of Whoop Body means that they can now also be inserted into apparel pieces with integrated performance-measuring technology.
 
“I've been thinking about this technology for more than a decade,” said Whoop founder and CEO Will Ahmed in a release. “We've always aspired to develop wearable technology that is either cool or invisible. With the launch of Whoop 4.0 and Whoop Body, we have accomplished both.”

At the end of August, Whoop closed a Series F funding round which saw the company receive $200 million and hit a total valuation of $3.6 billion. The platform, which was founded in 2011, said that it would use the new funds to invest in research and development, enhancements in its products, software and analytics, expansion into new markets, acquisitions and talent.
 
Whoop has been seeing significant growth recently, having made more than 225 new hires in the past year. The company, which currently boasts over 500 employees, intends to open offices around the world in 2022, including a new global HQ in Boston, where it hopes to house more than 1,000 team members on site.