May 5, 2021 9:45am
Oura said it will continue to develop within new use cases focused on recovery, activity, illness, mental health and women’s health. Wearable technology also shows promise for helping manage sleep apnea and high blood pressure conditions. (Oura Ring)
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Oura Ring quickly shifted from being just a consumer wearable to a key research tool for early detection of COVID-19 symptoms.
Oura Health s wellness ring was one of the first wearables used by an academic research institution, the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), to potentially predict illness symptoms. The company also donated rings to front-line healthcare workers who were likely to be affected by the virus.
Fitness ring maker Oura raises $100M
It’s been a wild couple of years for Oura. Last year, in particular, proved to be a major driver for the wearable fitness manufacturer. With the pandemic bringing professional sports to a screeching halt in 2020, a number of major leagues have adopted the ring, including the NBA, WNBA, UFC and NASCAR.
The company has also been making a major push into health research courtesy of UCSF, which has published peer-review studies around the ring’s temperature monitor. That feature in particular has made it a big draw for the aforementioned leagues, as temperature spikes could point to larger issues, including the early stages of COVID-19.
ŌURA Health, an Oulu, Finland-based provider of a health tech wearable that provides daily personalized sleep and overall health insights, raised $100m in Series C funding.
The round, which brought total funding to $148.3m, was led by The Chernin Group and Elysian Park, the investment arm of the LA Dodgers; Temasek, JAZZ Venture Partners, and Eisai Co., Ltd.; growth investors Bedford Ridge and One Capital, as well as existing investors Forerunner Ventures, Square, MSD Capital, Marc Benioff, Lifeline Ventures, Metaplanet Holdings, and Next Ventures.
The company intends to use the funds to invest in all areas of business, including Software and Hardware Development, People, Research & Development, Marketing, and Customer Experience.
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Deals
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Razor Group, a Berlin-based startup buying up promising Amazon sellers and scaling them into bigger, multi-channel businesses, has closed financing of $400 million to scale.
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Switzerland-based cybersecurity firm Acronis has raised over $250 million in a new funding round from CVC Capital Partners VII and additional investors including Goldman Sachs. With this round, the company now has a valuation of $2.5 billion.
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Finnish fitness ring maker Oura has raised $100 million Series C funding in a round led by The Chernin Group and Elysian Park.