Billion-Dollar Valuations and Exits for Harvard-born Startups
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In 2012, Harvard College students Will Ahmed, John Capodilupo, and Aurelian Nicolae co-founded wearable technology company WHOOP out of the Harvard Innovation Lab. Eight years later, WHOOP announced this week that it has raised a $100M Series E round at a valuation of more than $1 billion. "We will continue to make WHOOP the best product experience for measuring and improving health," said Will Ahmed, WHOOP founder and CEO, in a statement. "Human performance is a new category and WHOOP has emerged as both the pioneer and market leader.” WHOOP is a monthly subscription for 24/7 health monitoring across sleep, recovery, strain, and more. The WHOOP membership includes free hardware (WHOOP Strap 3.0) and a coaching platform designed to optimize behavior. WHOOP has more than 330 employees, including over 200 new hires in 2020, and has raised more than $200 million to date. Ahmed has often spoken about Harvard’s role in helping the company at its earliest stages. In a past interview with the Harvard Innovation Labs, he said, “Harvard has incredibly brilliant people who don’t always meet one another. The i-lab connects them around a shared problem they want to solve.” In 2020, WHOOP was named Fast Company’s Most Innovative Wellness Company. WHOOP has also gained significant attention for its efforts in the early detection of COVID-19, as detailed on the company’s website and in recent partnership announcements with the PGA Tour and NFLPA. Read more about WHOOP’s recent funding in The Boston Globe article, “Whoop expects to add hundreds of new jobs, mostly in Boston, after $100M in new funding.” This week, The Boston Globe also reported that CarePort Health, whose co-founder and CEO Lissy Hu is a 2014 MD/MBA alumna, was acquired for $1.35B— Why CarePort Health fetched $1.35 billion: It solves a big problem for patients. The company provides care coordination software solutions to manage patient transitions. CarePort Health won the HBS New Venture Competition Social Enterprise Track in 2012, and participated in the Harvard Innovation Labs Venture Incubation Program. |
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