WHOOP’s membership base in the Gulf has grown 85 per cent in the past year and 15 times over the past three years, the company’s founder and CEO disclosed on Wednesday.
This is the first time the figures have been shared publicly since Abu Dhabi investors Mubadala and 2PointZero Group joined a $575 million Series G funding round that values the US health wearable firm at $10.1 billion.
Will Ahmed, speaking at the Abu Dhabi Future Health Summit, said the growth reflects a shared vision between WHOOP and Abu Dhabi’s leadership to shift healthcare from reactive to proactive.
Stay up to date with the latest news. Follow KT on WhatsApp Channel
“The leadership here is pushing for healthcare to be proactive, not reactive,” he said. “And when you can remove bureaucracy and say we want healthcare to actually be proactive, a lot of things fall into place.”
Mubadala’s $75 million investment, announced during the ‘Make it in the Emirates Forum’ in May, includes a dedicated UAE office, full Arabic localisation of the WHOOP platform and the launch of the WHOOP–Mubadala Health Research Initiative — a structured programme of longitudinal studies in cardiovascular health, sleep science and recovery with leading UAE institutions.
Ahmed said the partnership with the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi would now move deeper into clinical research aimed at driving measurable health outcomes and advancing longevity science in the emirate.
The company’s wearable device tracks physiological signals around the clock, including heart rate variability, blood pressure, ECG and sleep patterns. It recently added AFib detection, cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration, and WHOOP Age — a longevity feature that tracks biological ageing and nudges users toward healthier habits.
Ahmed illustrated the life-saving potential of continuous monitoring with the case of a 50-year-old man, physically fit and otherwise healthy, whose WHOOP device flagged an abnormal heart rate during sleep.
Acting on the signal, the man visited a doctor and was found to have a blocked coronary artery — a narrowing of the blood vessels supplying the heart. “WHOOP didn’t tell him he had a heart attack, but it provided the signal that led him to seeing a doctor,” Ahmed said. “In the future, we will be able to say you are at risk of a heart attack. That is a very powerful future.”
WHOOP, founded in 2012 and headquartered in Boston, has raised approximately $1 billion in total funding across all rounds. Ahmed said the company was building toward becoming a successful standalone business. “Of course, that means we can be a public company in the near future,” he said, without specifying a timeline.
The Abu Dhabi Future Health Summit continues under the patronage of Sheikh Khalid bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, with sessions on cancer care, digital health and healthy living still ahead.
Source: Khaleej Times