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BFD Expert Voices - Health Tech Deals

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Wearable makers Oura and Whoop have secured billions in capital at $10 billion-plus valuations on the premise that they'll have big health care impacts.

Why it matters: They could repeat Fitbit's story if they don't cross over from consumer to health care products.

Flashback: Google acquired Fitbit in 2021 for $2.1 billion in a bid to accelerate its entry into the wearable technology market, but the tech giant reportedly began slowly killing the operation in 2024, axing some of its smartwatch lines and eliminating its website.

"Fitbit showed that consumer engagement alone is not enough," says Zack Tisch, a partner at Pivot Point Consulting.

Zoom out: In health care, tech adoption accelerates when the tool in question removes friction, saves time, or improves decision-making.

But when the same technology creates more noise or boosts monitoring burden, acceleration slows — and that's where current wearables are stuck, says Tisch.

Between the lines: Today's wearables have better form factor and benefit from sticky subscription models and generative AI.

"The real unlock lies in these companies' ability to connect into workflows where someone is accountable for outcomes," says 7wire Ventures partner Alyssa Jaffee.

Importantly, she says dollars need to flow from a risk-bearing entity such as a health plan, employer, or integrated delivery system.

"Without that, it's hard to see how [wearables] move beyond being high-quality consumer tools," she adds.

Between the lines: Even Apple, with its $3.8 trillion market cap, high-profile medical research efforts, and cleared medical device indication, has struggled to integrate consumer health data into routine clinical workflows.

"That tells you this is not primarily a device problem. It is a workflow problem," says Pivot Point's Tisch.

The bottom line: "In health care, distribution gets you on the wrist, but workflow gets you into the care model," says Tisch.

Oura and Whoop executives say their devices make existing health care interactions more efficient, since users can come in with existing questions about their data patterns.

"Most individuals have limited and episodic contact with the health care system, and those interactions are often brief. This creates a significant opportunity for continuous, day-to-day support that exists outside the clinical setting," says Alex Vannoni, Whoop's head of health care product.

Some wearable makers are starting with clinical validation before consumer expansion, a tack Overwater Ventures managing partner Kristina Simmons sees as "a massive opportunity."

Overwater portfolio company Adaptyx, which makes biosensor patches, is in the process of working on FDA clearance "before expanding more broadly to consumers," says Simmons.

The intrigue: Apple and Whoop have secured some regulatory approvals for their wearables as medical devices, but Oura's offerings remain strictly consumer devices, and Whoop has run into some hurdles with the FDA.

In July 2025, the FDA issued Whoop a warning letter stating that its blood pressure insights feature is an unauthorized medical device. Whoop has maintained that it's a wellness feature. (The company's ECG feature, meanwhile, is medically cleared.)

The wearables marketplace "predominantly has the business characteristics of the consumer market," says Steven Wardell, a digital health consultant with the growth consulting firm Wardell Advisors.

"There's a joke that health care investors can't spell brand and consumer investors can't spell FDA," adds Wardell.

The other side: Thanks to their use of generative AI capabilities, the devices have succeeded with consumers who are willing to spend money to pursue better health. 

"Advances in artificial intelligence are unlocking entirely new utility from continuous health data," says Vannoni. "Whoop is uniquely positioned to deliver increasingly predictive and personalized health insights."

Citing its partnerships with health care companies like virtual family care business Maven Clinic, Oura executives say its data is used to contextualize symptoms and personalize care plans. 

"Clinicians shouldn't need to be experts in wearables to extract value from this data. Advances in AI can now filter signals from noise, surfacing the most relevant insights at the right time, within existing clinical workflows," says Oura's chief medical officer Ricky Bloomfield.

Wearables need to cross from consumer to health care market

They could repeat Fitbit's story if they don't cross over from consumer to health care products.

Illustration of a hand wearing a smart watch and various smart rings. 

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Wearables need to cross from consumer to health care market

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