- OURA is a wearable fitness manufacturer.
- Oura announces a $100 million Series C on Tuesday (May 4).
- A funding round that brings the company’s total financing to just over $148 million.
- According to Oura, this funding round will fuel its hardware and software development.
Oura is a pioneering sleep performance platform, focused on improving sleep that leads to a better life. The Oura Ring and app give users daily feedback to improve their health. This allows users to better understand their bodies and reach their goals. Oura Health is a health technology company founded in Oulu, Finland in 2013. In 2018, the company received the Red Dot Awards for communications design and product design. Backed by world-class investors, leaders, champions, and creators, Oura Health is based in Oulu & Helsinki, Finland, and San Francisco, California.
Wearable Health Tech Maker Oura Raises $100 Million:
The wearable fitness manufacturer Oura announced a $100 million Series C on Tuesday (May 4). The funding round brings the company’s total financing to just over $148 million. Several sports leagues — the NBA, WNBA, and NASCAR among them — using their technology to track whether athletes could be getting sick. That would be useful for the sports world in normal circumstances. But, the technology has become particularly valuable in the age of COVID, as the Finnish company’s rings can measure temperature spikes.
“The wearables industry is transitioning from activity trackers to health platforms that can improve people’s lives,” CEO Harpreet Singh Rai said in a news release. “Oura focused first on sleep because it’s a daily habit, and lack of sleep has been linked to worsening health conditions including diabetes, cardiac disease, Alzheimer’s, cancer, poor mental health, and more.”
The funding round was led by Temasek, Jazz Venture Partners, The Chernin Group, and Bedford Ridge Capital. One Capital from Japan and Elysian Park, a fund connected to the Los Angeles Dodgers also participated. Returning investors included Forerunner Ventures, Square, and MSD Capital. Lifeline Ventures, Metaplanet Holdings, Next Ventures, and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff also took part in the funding round.
The wearables industry is transitioning from activity trackers to health platforms:
The company initially set itself apart with its form factor, joining a crowded field that largely revolved around the wrist. Clearly, however, it’s come into its own over the last few years. To date, it’s sold more than 500,000 rings.
“The wearables industry is transitioning from activity trackers to health platforms that can improve people’s lives,” CEO Harpreet Singh Rai said in a press release tied to the news. “Oura focused first on sleep because it’s a daily habit, and lack of sleep has been linked to worsening health conditions including diabetes, cardiac disease, Alzheimer’s, cancer, poor mental health, and more.”
The company says the round will go toward R&D (both hardware and software development) and hiring, including additional marketing and customer experience. The round also sees the hiring of a number of key roles, including head of Science, Shyamal Patel; site leader Tommi Heinonen and Daniel Welch, who has been promoted to CFO.
