Oura Hints at International Expansion as It Eyes the Nutrition Front

Smart ring manufacturer, Oura has announced plans to expand internationally, particularly to Western Europe. CNBC reported that as it pursues Oura’s international expansion, the company is already thinking about the new features that it wants to develop.

Oura’s International Expansion Plan

By participating in the Web Summit, Oura is seeking to boost its band awareness outside the US borders. The company also wants more people to know about smart rings. Speaking in Lisbon during the Web Summit Conference, Oura CEO Tom Hale said this awareness would benefit the company.

“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.

Oura is looking to venture into countries like Germany, the UK, Italy, and France. Oura has sold over 2.5 million smart rings since it entered the market in 2013. Analysts have termed the smart ring leader, Oura, a pioneer in the industry. CCS Insights predicts that Oura’s smart ring market share will close the year at 49%.

Emerging Competition

Oura has been facing minimal competition since it launched in 2013. However, the competition landscape is changing after the world’s biggest smartphone manufacturer, Samsung ventured into the industry this year. Analysts claim that the launch of the Galaxy ring has popularized Samsung and Oura Smart rings to a broader audience.

But Oura says it’s not worried about the entry of the tech giant into the smart ring industry with a product that competes with the Oura Smart Ring. Hale downplayed the impact of Samsung’s entry.

“A major tech company is 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. In terms of the impact on our business, it has made zero impact. If anything, our business has gotten stronger since their announcement,” Hale told CNBC.

Market Positioning

Hale says that he is focused on positioning Oura as a health and science company with clinical grad products. Currently, the company is pursuing a Food and Drug Administration approval in the US so that the smart rings that Oura produces can be used for diagnostics. Although he did not provide more details about this, Hale said Oura’s focus on health and science differentiates it from its rivals.

“If you’re actually thinking of yourself as a healthcare company, it is very different in many ways, and there are 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.

In October 2024, Oura launched an advanced smart ring, Oura Ring 4 that comes with a range of sensors. With the features, users can track health metrics that allow them to determine how prepared they are for their days and collect feedback about the quality of their sleep. The company’s business model thrives on the sale of hardware. Users also pay a $5.99 monthly subscription fee to access other Oura Smart ring features like health insights.

“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.

Currently, Oura’s international subscribers amount to about 2 million.

Eying the Nutrition Arena

Oura says it’s already testing new features in the nutrition arena. The new food tracking feature will allow users to be able to take a photo of their meals and add it to the Oura App. The company has also acquired metabolic health startup, Veri that will help in getting data from continuous glucose monitors to gather insights about blood sugar levels. Oura will combine the two features to give users insights into how certain foods affect their glucose levels.

Oura only develops smart rings. But there is a possibility that Oura will develop other products in the future. The company is looking to work with other hardware companies like Samsung and Apple as it explores ways to advance its AI capabilities in order to give users more personalized insights.