This Popular Health Wearable Startup Is Building a Social Network

Whoop, the consumer technology company making screenless fitness bands, wants to track more than just your heart rate. 

The fitness tracker company launched a social network this week called Whoop Humans, and claims in a recent press release that the feature is “the most verifiably human social network.”

“In a world that’s becoming increasingly artificial, we’re building something deeply human,” said Will Ahmed, founder and CEO of Whoop, in the press release. “Every account represents a real person with a verified heartbeat. They have real goals, challenges, and achievements. That’s what makes Whoop Humans different, and it’s a big area of investment for us.”

Here’s how it works: Whoop members can follow friends, family and other Whoop-wearing people on the wearable’s accompanying app. They can share workout, sleep and recovery milestones in posts. Members can write comments and express reactions within the app. 

Whoop designed the network to help customers cheer on each other’s progress and check in with each other if the data is concerning. 

Whoop Humans rolled out earlier this week on the app. It’s all up to the user if they want to participate. 

Whoop member Mika Bublitz said that the social network allows members to give their friends a boost. 

“Sometimes people don’t tell you when they’re not feeling their best,” Bublitz said in the press release. “If I see a friend’s Recovery is low, I can check in and say, ‘Hey, it’s okay to take it easy today.’ That’s what I like about Whoop Humans. It gives us another way to look out for each other.”

Whoop’s fitness bands have become popular. According to the company, more than three million members are part of Whoop’s network and own a wearable. The press release adds that members open the Whoop app more than eight times per day, an indicator of the app’s popularity among people who own a Whoop device. 

What is Whoop? 

Whoop sells annual memberships ranging from $199 to $359, each bundled with a wrist-worn fitness tracker. The device monitors sleep, heart rate and stress, with the aim of helping users improve their health and athletic performance. Its battery lasts two weeks on a single charge.

Ahmed has been building the company for 14 years. 

“It took a very long time to be an overnight success,” he said in an interview on the All-In Podcast last month. “It took about 12 years for us to get to a million members, and then another 18 months or so to two million, about six months to three million. We expect to end the year around four million members.”

Research published by Whoop last year in the journal Sensors found that people who wore the Whoop wearable every day clocked in more than 90 additional minutes of exercise per week. Daily wearers also logged about 20 extra minutes of sleep per night, or over two extra hours of sleep per week. The study analyzed 12 weeks of data from nearly 12,000 Whoop members. 

Whoop faces competition from Google, which released a screenless wearable earlier this year for $100 called the Fitbit Air. Apple is also reportedly developing a similar screenless device. 

Whoop, the consumer technology company making screenless fitness bands, wants to track more than just your heart rate. 

The fitness tracker company launched a social network this week called Whoop Humans, and claims in a recent press release that the feature is “the most verifiably human social network.”

“In a world that’s becoming increasingly artificial, we’re building something deeply human,” said Will Ahmed, founder and CEO of Whoop, in the press release. “Every account represents a real person with a verified heartbeat. They have real goals, challenges, and achievements. That’s what makes Whoop Humans different, and it’s a big area of investment for us.”