Oura Health, an Oulu, Finland-based startup that makes smart activity- and sleep-tracking ring, has raised $28 million in a new Series B funding round. The funding round was backed by Google’s Gradient Ventures, Forerunner Ventures, and Square, reports MobiHealthNews.
Eurie Kim, Partner at Forerunner Ventures and Jesse Dorogusker, Head of Hardware at Square will join Oura’s board. Anna Patterson, Founder and Managing Partner at Gradient Ventures is joining as Board Observer. The smart ring maker also announced that Dr. Matthew Walker, a professor of neuroscience and psychology at the University of California, Berkeley and a well-published sleep researcher, will be joining Oura as a chief science advisor.
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Oura ring is a wearable device that guides its wearers towards better sleep, recovery and readiness by analyzing the body’s sleep, daily rhythms, activity levels and physiological responses. The ring is made of titanium and features an accelerometer and gyroscope, NTC temperature sensors, and infrared LEDs.
Oura was deliberately designed as a ring (rather than a wrist worn device) because the arterial pulse at the finger delivers a significantly more accurate reading than what can be collected from the wrist. The Oura Ring measures blood volume pulse directly from the palmar arteries of the finger with infrared LED sensors. The personalized data allow users to work toward decreasing stress and increasing heart health.
“Improving your sleep is the first step in spurring better habits and ultimately preventing avoidable health issues. We’ll continue to apply data and insights to understand larger, sweeping trends and preventative care as we elevate human health. Now, especially during these tough times, and well into the future,” wrote Oura CEO Harpreet Singh Rai.
Oura had previously brought in $20 million in a funding round led by MSD Capital with participation from YouTube co-founder Steve Chen, Twitch co-founder Kevin Lin, Sunrise founder Dave Morin, ex-professional basketball player Shaquille O’Neal, actor Will Smith and author Neill Strauss.
