Smart ring leader Oura plans international push as CEO touts new features and thinking on hardware
The Oura Ring 4
Courtesy: Oura
LISBON — Samsung’s foray into smart rings isn’t concerning the boss of the product category’s pioneer, Oura — in fact, Tom Hale says he’s seeing a boost in business.
“I’m sure that a major tech company making an announcement saying: ‘Hey, this is a category that matters. It’s going to be something that’s big.’ I think it’s probably helpful,” Hale told CNBC in an interview this week.
“In terms of the impact on our business, it has made zero impact. If anything, our business has gotten stronger since their announcement.”
In a wide-ranging interview with CNBC at the Web Summit conference in Lisbon, Hale discussed Oura’s plans for new areas of insight it wants to give users, how he is thinking about new devices and the company’s intentions for international expansion.
Oura’s flagship product is the Oura Ring 4, a device known as a smart ring. It is packed with sensors that can track some health metrics, allowing Oura app users to learn more about the quality of their sleep or how ready they are to tackle the day ahead.
Founded in Finland in 2013, the company has been called a pioneer by analysts in the smart ring space. Oura said it has sold more than 2.5 million of its rings since it launched its first product. CCS Insight forecasts Oura will end the year with a 49% market share in smart rings.
Competition is starting to rear its head in the space. The world’s largest smartphone maker Samsung made its first venture into smart rings this year with the Galaxy Ring, which some analysts say has put the device category on the map and popularized it with a broader audience.
Hale is keen to position Oura as a “health company and a science company from the get-go,” with the aim of its product being “clinical grade.” Oura is seeking approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its ring to be used for diagnostics, although Hale declined to provide too many further details.
He did say that Oura’s focus on health and science is what sets it apart from competitors.
“If you’re actually thinking [of] yourself as a healthcare company, it is very different in many ways and different postures you might take towards data privacy. … So instead of being like a tech company where data is some sort of oil to be extracted and then used to create some kind of advantage of network effects, we’re really a healthcare company where your data is sacrosanct,” Hale said.
Oura’s business model relies on selling the hardware, as well as on a $5.99 monthly subscription service that allows users to get the insights from their ring. Oura says it has nearly 2 million subscribers.
“We look more like a software company than we do look like a hardware company. And I think that’s a function of the business model, and the fact that it’s working. Our subscribers are continuing to pay,” Hale said.
Oura eyes nutrition as next ‘pillar’
Oura takes the data gathered by the ring to provide insight to its users, focused on a person’s levels of sleep, activity and readiness to take on the day.
Hale said the company is now testing out nutrition, with users able to take a picture of their meal and log it into the Oura app. Also in the nutrition space, he highlighted Oura’s recent acquisition of Veri, a metabolic health startup that can take data from continuous glucose monitors — small devices inserted into a person’s arm — to give insight into someone’s blood sugar levels. Hale says that this, combined with Oura’s food tracking feature, could tell a user how certain meals affect their glucose levels.
Many glucose monitors today are invasive and need to be inserted into the skin. Some observers see a non-invasive glucose monitor on wearable gear as something that could be transformative — but Hale warns this is a difficult goal to achieve.
“The idea that a wearable [device] will get there, I think, has definitely been a Holy Grail, and like the Holy Grail, they may never find it, because it’s a very difficult problem to solve with any kind of accuracy,” Hale said.
“Never say never. Certainly, technology continues to advance and all the capabilities continue to advance,” he added.
New hardware and AI
While Oura only sells rings currently, Hale sees the company developing new products in the future. He declined to elaborate.
“I think we’ll undoubtedly see other Oura-branded products, beyond the ring,” he promised.
He also said the company hopes to work with other devices as well, even if they are not Oura’s own hardware.
Like many hardware companies, such as Apple and Samsung, Oura is looking at ways it can use the advancing capabilities of artificial intelligence to give users more personalized insights. Smartphone makers have spoken about so-called “AI agents,” which they see as assistants that are able to anticipate what a user wants.
Oura is testing out an AI product called Oura Advisor in a similar vein.
“Think of it as the doctor in your pocket that knows all the data about you,” Hale said.
International push
Hale‘s presence at the Web Summit in Lisbon underscores his push to raise Oura’s brand awareness in markets outside of the U.S., especially as more people learn about smart rings.
“I think the point about the category being something that people are learning about, the unique benefits of that maturity, is in our favor. We’re expanding internationally,” Hale said.
He said he is particularly “excited” about venturing into Western Europe, including in countries like the U.K., Germany, France and Italy. Looking even further forward, Hale said an initial public offering for the business is not currently on the table, adding that operating as a private company gives Oura more “freedom.”
“I really enjoy the freedom that we get as a private company. We’re accountable to our investors and our shareholders, but they’re willing to let us operate with a lot license,” he said. “And if we decided we wanted to turn unprofitable because we wanted to invest in owning some category of healthcare software, it’ll be fine. They would be happy for that.”
Technology
Ether and trading stocks take the crypto spotlight as Congress passes historic stablecoin bill
Jonathan Raa | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Ether and other crypto related stocks climbed to end the week as the GENIUS Act heads to President Donald Trump’s desk to be signed into law. Bitcoin and its proxies took a breather.
The price of ether was last higher by 3.6% at $3,558.68, according to Coin Metrics, trading at highs not seen since January.
On Thursday, ETFs tracking the price of ether saw daily inflows top those of bitcoin ETFs for the first time ever. The funds logged $602 million in net inflows, led by BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA). Bitcoin ETFs on the same day saw inflows of $522 million. A day earlier, the ETH funds saw a single-day record inflow of $726.7 million.
Stocks tied to crypto trading gained as well. Coinbase rose 4%, hitting an all-time intraday high surpassing its initial pop on its IPO date in 2021, and pacing for its fifth positive week in a row. Robinhood also added 4%. Ether treasury stock Bitmine Immersion continued its rally, jumping 12% Friday.
Meanwhile, the price of bitcoin slipped 1%. Bitcoin treasury giant Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, fell 4% and Mara Holdings, the mining company and bitcoin proxy, hovered under the flat line.
Ether has advanced 19% this week, bringing its two week gain to about 43.6% — its strongest two-week period since August 2021. Bitcoin is down less than 1% for the week.
“No coin seems to have more [momentum] than Ethereum of late,” Wolfe Research’s Read Harvey said in a note this week. “We began suggesting it was time to start gaining exposure in May, as ETH began to show some life relative to BTC. Fast forward to today, and we’re not just seeing life, but a potential trend reversal.”
Now trading near five-month highs relative to bitcoin, the leadership pendulum in crypto may be shifting, he added.
On Thursday, the House passed a bundle of crypto bills, sending one, the stablecoin legislation known as the GENIUS Act, to President Trump’s desk. It is expected to be sign into law Friday afternoon and become the first ever piece of major crypto legislation in the U.S.
“This is the biggest deal in crypto so far this year, up there with the change in the SEC – it’s the first crypto-focused law in the history of the United States, home to the largest financial market in the world. Just the symbolism alone is worth getting excited about,” said Noelle Acheson, economist and author of the Crypto is Macro Now newsletter.
Being law rather than an agency ruling “means that future Administrations will not be able to easily overturn its provisions. Should any try, by then stablecoins will be so deeply embedded in the global financial landscape, it would be futile,” she added.
House lawmakers also passed a second, much broader crypto market structure bill, the CLARITY Act, that will now go to the Senate.
On Thursday, BlackRock also filed with the SEC to include staking to its ETHA ether ETF, which also boosted sentiment for crypto’s second largest coin.
—With reporting by CNBC’s Nick Wells and Adrian van Hauwermeiren
Technology
Meta says it won’t sign Europe AI agreement, calling it an overreach that will stunt growth
Jakub Porzycki | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Meta Platforms declined to sign the European Union’s artificial intelligence code of practice because it is an overreach that will “stunt” companies, according to global affairs chief Joel Kaplan.
“Europe is heading down the wrong path on AI,” Kaplan wrote in a post Friday on LinkedIn. “This code introduces a number of legal uncertainties for model developers, as well as measures which go far beyond the scope of the AI Act.”
Last week, the European Commission, the executive body of the EU, published a final iteration of its code for general purpose AI models, leaving it up to companies to decide if they want to sign.
The rules, which go into effect next month, create a framework for complying with the AI Act passed by European lawmakers last year. It aims to improve transparency and safety surrounding the technology.
Meta isn’t the first company to stand up against Europe’s new AI rulebook.
ASML Holding and Airbus were among the signatories in a recent letter that called on the EU to delay the code for two years. Last week, OpenAI committed to signing the code of practice.
“We share concerns raised by these businesses that this over-reach will throttle the development and deployment of frontier AI models in Europe, and stunt European companies looking to build businesses on top of them,” Kaplan wrote.
Kaplan replaced former global affairs chief Nick Clegg earlier this year. He previously served as vice president of U.S. policy at Facebook and was a staffer in President George W. Bush’s administration.
WATCH: Executive Edge: Meta is reportedly considering a significant change to its AI strategy
Technology
Elon Musk’s Neuralink filed as ‘disadvantaged business’ before being valued at $9 billion
Jonathan Raa | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Elon Musk’s health tech company Neuralink labeled itself a “small disadvantaged business” in a federal filing with the U.S. Small Business Administration, shortly before a financing round valued the company at $9 billion.
Neuralink is developing a brain-computer interface (BCI) system, with an initial aim to help people with severe paralysis regain some independence. BCI technology broadly can translate a person’s brain signals into commands that allow them to manipulate external technologies just by thinking.
Neuralink’s filing, dated April 24, would have reached the SBA at a time when Musk was leading the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency. At DOGE, Musk worked to slash the size of federal agencies.
MuskWatch first reported on the details Neuralink’s April filing.
According to the SBA’s website, a designation of SDB means a company is at least 51% owned and controlled by one or more “disadvantaged” persons who must be “socially disadvantaged and economically disadvantaged.” An SDB designation can also help a business “gain preferential access to federal procurement opportunities,” the SBA website says.
Musk, the world’s wealthiest person, is CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, in addition to his other businesses like artificial intelligence startup xAI and tunneling venture The Boring Company. In 2022, Musk led the $44 billion purchase of Twitter, which he later named X before merging it with xAI.
Jared Birchall, a Neuralink executive, was listed as the contact person on the filing from April. Birchall, who also manages Musk’s money as head of his family office, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Neuralink, which incorporated in Nevada, closed a $650 million funding round in early June at a $9 billion valuation. ARK Invest, Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, Sequoia Capital and Thrive Capital were among the investors. Neuralink said the fresh capital would help the company bring its technology to more patients and develop new devices that “deepen the connection between biological and artificial intelligence.”
Under Musk’s leadership at DOGE, the initiative took aim at government agencies that emphasized diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). In February, for example, DOGE and Musk boasted of nixing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of funding for the Department of Education that would have gone towards DEI-related training grants.
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