Whoop’s rapid expansion ahead of its rumored public offering will come with a larger presence in Boston as the fitness technology brand is set to lease more office space near its headquarters.
A company spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday that it will expand to a new location across the street from its current location in the Kenmore Square neighborhood and double its footprint in the city.
The new space will accommodate around 1,000 employees at 107,0000 square feet and is another clear sign that the fitness tracker manufacturer is serious about its planned growth. A lease agreement has not yet been finalized but would mark one of Boston’s biggest office deals of the year.
Whoop founder and CEO Will Ahmed told Bloomberg on Monday that his company sees being in Boston as a plus over startup saturated cities like New York or San Francisco because the people attracted to firms in his region believe in the vision of a venture and are likely to stay on board much longer.
“Boston’s been underrated in regards to a lot of what it can provide an up and coming company,” Ahmed said. “The folks that get a little caught up in the hype cycle of a tech company, or get too caught in the valuation speak or what’s en vogue, they are less likely to stick it out through some of the more challenging periods”
Ahmed also said he eyes an impending IPO to take shape within the next 18 months.
Whoop opened its global headquarters at One Kenmore Square in 2023 two years after signing on to lease the 121,000 square-foot space that eventually took on more than 1,000 employees. The eight floor space contains a research and development hub and has views of the landmark Citgo Sign, Charles River and nearby Fenway Park.
Whoop has recently beefed up it executive ranks in recent months with a host of new appointments, naming Dr. Ami Bhatt as its chief medical officer, Kyle Leahy as chief commercial officer, Kristen Moss as its first chief communications officer and Dirk-Jan “DJ” van Hameren as chief marketing officer last month with Yann Gellot announced as chief accounting officer on Tuesday.
They are just a handful of the 400 people the company has hired this year and those new roles come as Whoop’s looming IPO ambitions follow a $10 billion valuation figure announced in March. Whoop revealed that it completed a $575 million funding round led by New York City-based venture firm Collaborative Fund.
Other investors included 2PointZero Group, Qatar Investment Authority, Mubadala Investment Company, Abbott, Mayo Clinic, Macquarie Capital, Glade Brook, B-Flexion, IVP, Foundry, Accomplice, Affinity Partners, Promus Ventures and Bullhound Capital.
