Millions of people are now wearing a small ring that tracks what is happening inside their bodies around the clock. Oura, the company behind the increasingly popular health-tracking Oura Ring, has filed to go public after growing to 5 million paid members and generating $1.21 billion in revenue during the first nine months of its fiscal year. The company earned $60.8 million during the period, up from just $1.6 million a year earlier.
Unlike a smartwatch, the Oura Ring is designed to look and feel more like ordinary jewelry while continuously collecting health information from a wearer’s finger. Its sensors monitor signals including heart rate, heart-rate variability, body temperature, movement and sleep, which are turned into personalized information inside the Oura app.
A Health Tracker People Rarely Take Off
Oura has increasingly positioned the ring as more than a fitness tracker. People use it to understand how well they are sleeping, whether their bodies have recovered from exercise or stress and how daily habits may be affecting their health.
The technology has also expanded into women’s health, including menstrual-cycle and ovulation tracking, while Oura says members use the platform for needs ranging from improving fitness to family planning and managing ongoing health conditions.
The company’s latest numbers suggest that the concept has moved well beyond a niche wearable. Oura sold 3.1 million rings during the nine months ending June 30, compared with 1.8 million during the same period a year earlier. Its paid membership base reached 5 million across 56 markets.
Oura says approximately 85% of its paid members remain members after 12 months, giving the company a recurring subscription business alongside sales of the rings themselves.
Why Put the Technology on a Finger?
The ring’s appeal is partly tied to its form. A device worn on the finger can collect health measurements continuously without requiring users to wear a larger watch or fitness band day and night.
That matters particularly for sleep tracking, when some people may find a ring less intrusive than a smartwatch. Continuous wear also gives Oura more information about changes in an individual’s body over time rather than relying on occasional measurements.
The result is a product designed to help users spot patterns. A poor night’s sleep, elevated resting heart rate or changes in body temperature can be considered alongside exercise, stress and other factors to provide a broader picture of how the body may be responding.
From Smart Ring to Public Company
Oura’s rapid growth is now taking the company to Wall Street. The company filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering and plans to list its shares on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol OURA.
The filing does not yet specify how many shares Oura intends to sell or the price range for the offering.
Going public will also put considerably more attention on whether consumers continue embracing health technology designed to be worn nearly all the time. Oura now generates revenue both when consumers buy its hardware and through the memberships that unlock additional features and insights in its app.
The Readovia Lens
Oura’s rise illustrates how personal health technology is becoming less conspicuous while collecting more information.
The first generations of wearable technology made their presence obvious on people’s wrists. Oura has demonstrated that sophisticated sensors can instead disappear into something as familiar as a ring — while still giving millions of users a continuous stream of information about sleep, recovery, activity and other aspects of their health.
Oura’s IPO will test something beyond investor enthusiasm for another technology company. It will also provide a measure of just how valuable the market believes our growing appetite for continuous personal health information has become.
