AAA Oura obtains $100m in series C

Oura obtains $100m in series C

Finland-based wearable technology developer Oura raised $100m on Tuesday in a series C round co-led by over-the-top media holding company The Chernin Group.

Chernin Group co-led the round with Elysian Park Ventures, which is backed by baseball franchise the Los Angeles Dodgers, as well as Temasek, Jazz Venture Partners, Bedford Ridge Capital and One Capital. It valued the company at $800m, a source with knowledge of the deal told Forbes.

The round was filled out by digital payment technology provider Square, pharmaceutical firm Eisai, Forerunner Ventures, MSD Capital, Lifeline Ventures, Metaplanet Holdings, Next Ventures and private investor Marc Benioff.

Founded in 2013, Oura has created a smart ring that can provide health data, insights and advice by tracking users’ heart rate, physical activity, temperature and other signals.

The company had initially focused on sleep before expanding the ring’s use to applications such as sports recovery and overall health. It will use the funding to invest in human resources, software and hardware development, marketing and customer experience activities.

Gradient Ventures, the artificial intelligence investment fund formed by internet technology provider Google, had participated in Oura’s $28m series B round in March 2020 alongside Square and Forerunner Ventures.

Oura took its total funding past $20m in December 2018 when MSD Capital led a round of undisclosed size also backed by assorted angel investors, though reports on its earlier rounds suggest the December round was at least $8.6m in size.

Tesi and Bold Capital Partners co-led a $5.8m round for the company five months earlier, after it had raised $5.3m of series A funding from angel investors including Joi Ito and Jaan Tallinn in 2016.