How Whoop Incentivizes Sleep for Its Staff

Whoop employees are paid to develop fitness-focused wearables and apparel, to compute biometrics, and…to sleep.

The company offers employees a unique perk: $100 for each month they meet a certain sleep threshold. Using its own wearables and software, Whoop tracks physical activity, including sleep length and quality.

The program is opt-in, and employee sleep data is never accessed for any reason other than to determine bonus eligibility, according to Whoop.

The company also instituted a policy in which employees are asked to work from home if Whoop’s biometrics identify that they are are physically drained with a potentially weakened immune system. 

Since its software tracks metrics such as heart rate, heart-rate variability, and muscle strain, Whoop’s wristbands and armbands have become popular among athletes, including Olympic swimmer Connor Jaeger and Patrick Mahomes, who is an investor in the company.

The company made a name for itself by developing an algorithm that could detect pre-symptomatic COVID-19 20% of the time and symptomatic COVID-19 80% of the time.

The PGA Tour, which made Whoop its first official wearable, issued 1,000 Whoop bands to its athletes after Whoop’s readings for pro golfer Nick Watney led him to get tested for and diagnosed with COVID-19.

The company recently announced a sponsorship deal with CrossFit, and closed a $100 million Series E funding round last October at a $1.2 billion valuation.