It’s been a year since I officially joined ŌURA as CEO, and it’s been a whirlwind. It’s also been the most rewarding year of my career: I am inspired every day by ŌURA’s mission to improve the lives of our members, and I feel incredibly fortunate to be a part of this amazing, talented team. Together, we’re helping people foster healthy habits and make preventative care a daily practice.  

I am humbled by the stories our customers share about the impact ŌURA has made in their lives; for some, Oura Ring has literally been a lifesaver. Our members are some of the most passionate and resilient people I’ve encountered —  they truly embody what it means to live with curiosity and intention, and use Oura Ring to know themselves better.  

Today, we announced the acquisition of Proxy, ŌURA’s first. You can read the announcement for the details, but I wanted to share a bit more about this decision with our community and why it is so important to moving our mission forward. 

This decision paves the way for expanded use cases that will augment our existing technology in areas like security, identity, access, payments, and more. With this acquisition, we have the most comprehensive portfolio in the smart ring space, which gives us the latitude to expand our offerings and continue to deliver significant value to our members.

Members trust ŌURA with intimate health data, and we take that responsibility very seriously. We will never sell our members’ data, and we hold ourselves to the highest standards of security and privacy. In May 2022, Roe v. Wade was overturned in the US Supreme Court, which underscored our company’s imperative to continue to secure our members’ data. We witnessed the trust our members put in us to protect them and knew that we had to do more. That same week, we started conversations with the Proxy team. 

Their vision for secure portable, encrypted identity and personal data — powered by a wearable that knows the wearer — compelled us. The Proxy team was working in stealth mode to create a software and hardware platform that empowered users to manage the private encryption keys that control who can access their data. Unlike Web 2.0, where Big Tech aggregates data and monetizes it, their vision was based on Web3 ideas of decentralization, security, and privacy. 

While the healthcare industry, governments, and regulators work diligently to protect patient data via regulations and certifications, they mostly rely on the old-school mechanisms of security (filing cabinets, password-protected databases, and locked doors). As ŌURA scales and grows, we envision a world where the user has sovereignty over their own data and controls the keys to enforce privacy and security. We can’t share data if we can’t encrypt it. And with a biometric wearable and decentralized identity and authentication … each individual IS the key. 

To be clear, we have a lot to do before this vision becomes a reality, and securing health data is only one of the many benefits and opportunities that Proxy unlocks. But we’re excited to begin realizing the vision of a smart ring that can help navigate the physical world: unlocking doors and devices, starting the car, and confirming a person’s identity without a doubt as they access and manage digital assets and actions. A “wave to pay” and “wave to access” future is within our reach. 

We’re living in a time where technology and innovation are moving at light speed and we know that with the proliferation of AI and the questions of verification and authorship, the assertions of your unique humanness will become necessary. 

For now, we have lots to do. Even as we are focused on the future that Proxy enables, we are focused on delivering near-term benefits for our members. This acquisition is an opportunity to build on our strengths in sleep and health and to expand the daytime usage of ŌURA. We can’t wait to get started and bring our members along for the journey. 

As I reflect on the last 12 months, I am proud of what we’ve been able to deliver to our members and inspired by our team that made it all possible: 

  • Celebrating 10 years of business we have seen the strength and support of our community grow in over 230 countries, and we’ve delivered 43 unique health-enhancing features across iOS and Android – including Improved Temperature Sensing, Daytime HR, Period Prediction, Workout HR, Blood Oxygen (SpO2 Sensing), Personalized Activity Goals, and Calorie-Opt Out, Chronotype, iOS Apple Watch widgets and more!
  • Our first national retail partnership with Best Buy, opening up access and meeting our future members where they are, to shop and size Oura Ring in-person at 850+ locations nationwide.
  • The introduction of our world-class Medical Advisory Board continues our mission to lead with science by adding experts to our team who offer unique and diverse perspectives who will help co-create research, inform feature development, as well as build meaningful content to educate our ŌURA community.
  • Joining forces with impactful partners, including Gucci, Strava, and Natural Cycles, through product collaborations and integrations that bring value and new offerings to our members.
  • Adding to our C Suite to build out our bench of dynamic and skilled leaders, including Dorothy Kilroy, Chief Commercial Officer; Doug Sweeny, Chief Marketing Officer; Holly Shelton, Chief Product Officer; and Judy Gilbert, Chief People Officer, who are charting the course to continue to make impactful products that deliver value to our members. 
  • ŌURA’s acquisition of Proxy opens up new, exciting opportunities for us to explore and innovate in new areas like payments, access, security, and identity, all in service of building the future of wearables alongside our members. 

We’re not slowing down anytime soon. Momentum is on our side, and we have a LOT we plan to accomplish in the next 12 months and beyond. 

A year ago when I started this journey, I never could have imagined where we’d be today. I knew that ŌURA had the potential to change lives at scale, and I was passionate about the team’s vision to get there. We’ve made huge strides, and we have much more to come. Our dreams are big and ambitious, but we know they’re possible. Thank you to all of our ŌURA Members who inspire us, challenge us, and teach us daily. We’re grateful to be here with you.

— Tom