Exclusive: Ōura acquires movement data platform Sparta Science
Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
Finnish wearable company Ōura acquired movement data tracker Sparta Science, chief commercial officer Dorothy Kilroy tells Axios exclusively.
Why it matters: The buy expands enterprise offerings for Ōura, which faces competition from an incumbent after Samsung unveiled its Galaxy ring in February.
- Kilroy declined to disclose deal terms and structure.
By the numbers: Ōura projects $500 million in annual revenue by year-end, CEO Tom Hale told Bloomberg in September. Kilroy declined to comment for this report.
- The company has sold more than 2.5 million rings, she says. Ōura has raised $701 million in VC funding from Forerunner Ventures and others, while Sparta has taken in $83 million, per PitchBook
What's next: "I think that there's very fertile ground out there to do more (M&A)," Kilroy says.
How it works: Menlo Park, Calif.-based Sparta uses force plate technology — a system that measures ground-free reaction force exerted during physical activity — to track and analyze a person's movement.
- Its HIPAA-compliant platform delivers insights on strength and balance. Ōura is known for its fitness-tracking rings, priced at $299, with subscriptions at $6 monthly.
Context: Though predominantly a direct-to-consumer company, Ōura is investing in its enterprise customer base, Kilroy says.
- Key enterprise customers include private sector, government and health care providers.
- Ōura has contracts with the Department of Defense, including the Army, Navy and Air Force. It plans to make its ring and membership complimentary for eligible Essence Healthcare Medicare Advantage members next year.
What they're saying: Sparta's Trinsic platform gives enterprise clients a customizable platform, with insights that can help them optimize scheduling and allocate resources based on the data.
- "For some of our government partners, that's a return-to-duty process for many of them, and looking at fitness and safety measurements, too," Kilroy says.
Catch up quick: This is Ōura's third acquisition in its 11-year life. It bought Finnish personalized metabolic health company Veri in September.
- That followed an all-equity acquisition of digital identity signal platform Proxy in May 2023.
- "The first two gave us a real chance to sort of learn the value of M&A and (Sparta) gives us an opportunity to continue to accelerate that growth with the right technology," says Kilroy.
The big picture: Studies show wearable health tech is becoming increasingly important for older adults as both a preventive and monitoring measure.
