Ōura raises $75M from Dexcom at $5B valuation, expanding into metabolic health
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
Ōura received $75 million from Dexcom, inking a partnership that values the Finnish wearable company at $5 billion while giving it access to Dexcom's glucose data.
Why it matters: Startups and tech behemoths have had little success creating non-invasive glucose tracking, leaving consumers stuck with needle sensors and routine health data tracking.
Zoom in: The two will launch integrations that let data flow between Dexcom glucose biosensors and the Ōura ring, and their respective apps.
- The companies will also co-market and cross-sell each other's products.
What's next: Ōura CEO Tom Hale tells Fierce Healthcare proceeds will go toward M&A.
- Ōura acquired movement tracker company Sparta Science in October, following an acquisition of metabolic data tracker Veri the month before.
- There are no current plans to take the company public, Hale tells Fierce.
How it works: Ōura's ring uses infrared photoplethysmography sensors to measure indicators like heart rate and respiration.
The intrigue: "There's certainly going to be a large number of folks who are pre-diabetic who would fit into the category of people who might be interested in this combined solution," Hale tells Fierce.
- Most Americans are not in optimal metabolic health, and about 98 million American adults have prediabetes.
State of play: Wearable incumbents are increasingly seeking to incorporate metabolic data.
- Fitbit launched a partnership with Quest Diagnostics to garner insights on how to assess and prevent metabolic disease.
- Apple is testing a new blood-sugar product with its new ring to be released next September. The G7 continuous glucose monitoring system is compatible with the Apple Watch.
Flashback: Dexcom had a partnership with Verily, Google's health unit that's in the process of being separated from the tech giant, back in 2020.
- It's unclear where those efforts are now.
Reality check: Tuesday's deal prompts the familiar question of whether slow biotech research timelines can jive with the "move fast, break things" pace of health tech.
- So far, only the Apple Watch has managed to make the marriage work.
The bottom line: Ōura is continuing to shore up its data sources before Apple debuts its competing ring.
