Oura ring 4
Provided by: Oura
LISBON — Samsung’s foray into smart rings isn’t about the president of Oura, a pioneer in the product category — in fact, Tom Hale says he’s seeing an uptick in business.
“I’m sure the big tech companies will make announcements like, ‘Hey, this is an important category. This is going to be a big thing,’ and I think that will probably help,” Hale said in an interview with CNBC this week. He spoke at
“In terms of impact on our business, there has been no impact at all. If anything, our business has been strengthened since the announcement.”
In a wide-ranging interview with CNBC at the Web Summit conference in Lisbon, Hale talked about Oura’s plans for new areas of insight it wants to offer users, its thoughts on new devices, and the company’s international expansion intentions. spoke.
Oura’s flagship product is the Oura Ring 4, a device known as a smart ring. It’s packed with sensors that can track several health metrics, allowing Oura app users to learn more about the quality of their sleep and how well-prepared they are to tackle the next day. .
Founded in Finland in 2013, the company is called a pioneer by analysts in the smart ring space. Oura said it has sold more than 2.5 million rings since launching its first product. CCS Insight predicts Oura will end the year with a 49% market share in smart rings.
Competition in this field is beginning to intensify. Samsung, the world’s largest smartphone maker, made its first foray into smart rings this year with the Galaxy Ring, which some analysts believe has brought attention to the device category and brought it to a wider audience.
Hale aims for the products to be “clinical grade” and wants to position Oura as “first and foremost a health company and a science company.” Oura is seeking U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for its diagnostic ring, but Hale declined to provide further details.
He said Oura’s focus on health and science sets it apart from its competitors.
“If you’re really thinking [of] As a healthcare company, you are very different in many ways, and your stance on data privacy will also vary. …So rather than being like a technology company where data is some kind of oil that is extracted and used to create some advantage through network effects, we actually believe that data is sacred. It’s a health care company,” Hale said. .
Oura’s business model relies on hardware sales and a $5.99 monthly subscription service that allows users to gain insights from Ring. According to Oura, there are nearly 2 million subscribers.
“We’re more of a software company than a hardware company, and I think that’s a function of our business model and the fact that it’s working. Our subscribers continue to pay,” Hale said. spoke.
Mr. Oura focuses on nutrition as the next “pillar”
Oura takes the data collected by the ring to provide users with insights focused on their sleep, activity, and level of readiness for the day.
Hale said the company is currently testing nutrition by allowing users to take photos of their meals and log into the Oura app. Also in the nutrition space, he highlighted Oura’s recent acquisition of metabolic health startup Veri. Veri can capture data from continuous blood glucose monitors (small devices inserted into a person’s arm) to gain insight into a person’s blood sugar levels. Hale says this, combined with Oura’s meal tracking feature, can tell users how a particular meal affects their blood sugar levels.
Many current blood glucose monitors are invasive and must be inserted into the skin. Some observers believe that non-invasive blood glucose monitors on wearable devices could be revolutionary, but Hale cautioned that this is a difficult goal to achieve. Masu.
“The idea of wearables is [device] I think “we’ll get there” was definitely the Holy Grail, and like the Holy Grail, they may never find it. “Because that’s a very difficult problem to solve with any precision,” Hale said.
“Don’t say never. Yes, technology continues to advance, and so do all the capabilities,” he added.
New hardware and AI
Oura currently only sells rings, but Hale expects the company to develop new products in the future. He declined to elaborate.
“I think there will definitely be other products from the Oura brand outside of the ring,” he promised.
He also said the company would like to work with other devices, even if it’s not Oura’s own hardware.
Like many hardware companies, apple Samsung and Oura are exploring ways to leverage the evolving capabilities of artificial intelligence to provide users with more personalized insights. Smartphone makers are talking about so-called “AI agents,” which they see as assistants that can predict what users want.
Oura is testing an AI product called Oura Advisor in a similar way.
“Think of it like a doctor in your pocket who knows all the data about you,” Hale says.
international promotion
Hale‘s Attending the Web Summit in Lisbon highlights his commitment to increasing Oura’s brand awareness in markets outside the United States, especially as more people learn about smart rings.
“I think the unique advantage of this category in terms of its maturity that people are learning about is an advantage for us. We’re expanding internationally,” Hale said.
He said he was particularly “excited” about expanding into Western Europe, including countries such as the UK, Germany, France and Italy. Looking further ahead, Mr Hale said an initial public offering for the business was not currently on the table, adding that operating as a private company would give Oura more “freedom”.
“We really enjoy the freedom that we have as a private company. We are responsible to our investors and shareholders, and they are happy to allow us to operate on a lot license,” he said. “And if they decide they’re going to lose money because they wanted to invest in owning a certain category of healthcare software, that’s fine. They’ll be happy with that.”
