Boston-based fitness startup Whoop Inc. raised a stealthy $6 million this month from 14 unnamed investors, an SEC filing shows.
Whoop has revealed few details about its business since spinning out of Harvard’s Innovation Lab in 2012, back when the company was called Bobo Analytics. The company said at the time that it was working a sensor-laden wristband that could continuously monitor heart rate and movement, hoping for present an alternative to the standard chest-strap monitors in use today.
The device was envisioned as a tool for athletes and coaches seeking to optimize training and performance, founder Will Ahmed told Boston.com. Whoop has been fairly stealthy since then, with few details on its website regarding its technology, although the site still has a very "athletic" vibe.
Among the company’s listed advisors are Dr. Jeffrey Olgin, chief of cardiology at UCSF and principal investigator at Health eHeart, an initiative to "monitor a million hearts in real time"; as well as Stephen Wolfram, founder and CEO of Wolfram Research.
Whoop’s CFO and VP of operations, Carlos Famadas, comes from Telcare, where he was VP of finance and operations for the cellular-enabled glucose meter company. The company currently employs 11 and is looking for 6 more, BostInno reported.