Fitness wearable company Whoop announced Friday it will offer U.S. users on-demand access to licensed clinicians directly through its app, a step that would connect the company's continuous biometric monitoring with real-time medical guidance for the first time.
The live video consultation feature will be available this summer and will cost extra beyond a standard Whoop membership. The company said pricing and specifics would be released when the option launches. Many of the other new features announced Friday are included in the existing membership price.
Medical consultations through the service will begin with a comprehensive review of data collected by the Whoop device. When available, blood work and medical history will also be incorporated, according to the company. Whoop told CNBC that the video consultation feature is designed to complement a user's existing care and is not intended to replace a primary doctor or emergency services. Details on whether clinicians will be able to prescribe medication through the service were not available as of Friday.
"As our data and coaching insights have become more advanced and personalized, the next step is giving members access to a comprehensive understanding of their overall health," Whoop CEO Will Ahmed told CNBC.
Chief product officer Ed Baker framed the expansion as part of a broader membership philosophy. "Whoop is a membership, and we take that seriously," Baker said in a press release. "We're always asking how we can deliver more value to our members, and these upcoming features are some of the most meaningful we've ever built."
The announcement comes alongside a broader suite of AI-driven features launching globally, including a partnership with health records platform HealthEx. Through that integration, users will be able to track diagnoses, medications, and medical procedures inside the Whoop app and receive AI-powered coaching recommendations and proactive check-in reminders. The goal is to give the app a more complete picture of a user's health history rather than relying solely on sensor data from the wearable itself.
Whoop has more than 2.5 million users worldwide and closed a $575 million funding round in March that pushed the company's valuation to $10.1 billion. The new clinical features represent a notable shift in ambition for the company, which until now has positioned itself primarily as a fitness and recovery tracker rather than a medical services platform.
The expansion into clinician access does not come without regulatory history. Less than a year ago, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration sent Whoop a warning letter over its Blood Pressure Insights feature, stating the company was marketing an unauthorized medical device intended to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. The FDA issued new guidance in January that allows optical sensing blood pressure measurements in wellness devices, provided the devices do not make medical-grade diagnostic claims. Whoop's new features will need to navigate that boundary carefully as the company moves deeper into health services territory.
The summer launch timeline gives the company several months to finalize pricing and regulatory positioning before the clinician access feature goes live to U.S. members.
