- Finnish healthtech Oura has launched Ring 5, the world’s smallest smart ring, 40% smaller than its predecessor backed by $1.5B+ in total funding and a confidential IPO filing with the SEC.
- The launch pairs new hardware with a major software expansion including blood pressure monitoring during sleep, nighttime breathing analysis, GLP-1 medication tracking, and AI-enabled on-demand medical care.
- Samsung’s Galaxy Ring 2 is delayed, Apple has no confirmed ring in development, and most of Oura’s smaller rivals have been banned from the US market – leaving Oura as the category’s unchallenged leader.
Smart ring season started with a crowd. And is it ending with one winner and it is not American?
Founded in Finland in 2013 and now headquartered in San Francisco, with its European headquarters in Oulu, Finland, Oura recently announced Ring 5, the world’s smallest smart ring, 40% smaller than Ring 4, crafted from lightweight non-allergenic titanium, starting at $399 for base finishes and $499 for premium, shipping June 4. The launch arrives the same week the company confidentially filed a draft IPO prospectus with the SEC, as per reports.
Oura hit an $11 billion valuation last October, making it Europe’s first health-tracking decacorn after raising $875M in a Series E, bringing total funding to more than $1.5 billion. It is on track to surpass 5 million paid members this quarter, a fourfold increase in 2 years with an 80% subscription renewal rate and revenue growing 4x over the same period. Reportedly, the CEO Tom Hale has said the company could reach near $2 billion in 2026 sales, though that figure.
Ring 5 achieves its size reduction without compromising sensors. The new signal architecture combines precision-engineered sensor domes for better skin contact, more powerful LEDs, and, according to the company, twelve stronger signal pathways delivering greater accuracy across more finger types and skin tones. “Oura Ring 5 is the most significant leap in smart ring history,” said Holly Shelton, Chief Product Officer at Oura. “To make something 40 percent smaller without sacrificing an ounce of accuracy, we had to rethink every assumption, the sensors, the battery, the architecture, the geometry of the ring itself.”
Health Radar, designed in collaboration with more than 40 in-house MDs and PhDs, continuously monitors biometric signals to surface cardiovascular and breathing patterns before they become problems. New features include blood pressure monitoring during sleep, nighttime breathing analysis, GLP-1 medication tracking for the 100 million people projected to use weight-loss drugs by 2030, AI-enabled on-demand medical care through a partnership with Counsel Health, a Brain Health Study tracking cognitive function over time via Cambridge Cognition, and Health Records connecting clinical data with real-time biometrics.
The preventive health thesis Oura is doubling down on is gaining traction across the sector. Paris-based Lucis just raised €20M to build Europe’s preventive health platform, and WHOOP landed $575M at a $10.1B valuation earlier this year, two signals that capital is flowing rapidly into the shift from sick care to prevention.
CEO Tom Hale framed the broader vision, “By reimagining Oura Ring 5 to be smaller, easier to wear, and pairing it with our most advanced software yet, we’re making it possible for many more people to benefit from personalised, predictive health insights.”
The competitive picture has tilted sharply in Oura’s favour. Samsung’s Galaxy Ring 2 has been delayed to late 2026 at the earliest. Bloomberg has reported Apple has no active development plans for a smart ring, with executives concerned it would cannibalise Apple Watch sales. Meanwhile, Oura has used the ITC to ban RingConn, Circular, and Luna Ring from the US market and is currently suing Samsung for patent infringement – a legal offensive that has cleared the field of most meaningful competition.
A Finnish startup, founded over a decade ago on the thesis that the finger is a better place to measure health than the wrist, is now heading toward a US public listing as the dominant force in a category it created. The IPO will tell us what the market thinks that is worth.
