Oura has officially filed to go public, submitting its paperwork on September 3 as competition in the smart ring market intensifies. The Finnish company enters the public markets on strong footing: revenue nearly doubled to EUR 1 billion for the nine months ended June 30. Oura reports selling 3.6 million rings over the past year and counts roughly 5 million paid members.
The filing follows the launch of the Oura Ring 5, described as the company’s slimmest and lightest device to date. Yet after years of dominating the category, Oura now faces a growing field of challengers, each pursuing a distinct strategy to unseat the market leader.
New Competitors Bet on Payments and On-Device Software
French company Circular announced this week that its upcoming ring will let users tap to pay directly from the device. Its Ring 3 series, which includes a Pro model and a Slim option, is expected to launch early next year. Both versions will feature an integrated NFC chip for contactless payments.
Chinese firm RingConn introduced a ring this year that adds haptic vibrations. Meanwhile, Indian company Ultrahuman raised EUR 60 million this week, with backing from Qualcomm’s venture arm, as it works toward a ring capable of running software directly on the device. The company says it eventually aims to power everything from AI interactions to games.
Ultrahuman earlier unveiled its third-generation ring, the EUR 412 Ring Pro, set to begin shipping in the U.S. in mid-September. Its U.S. operations were disrupted in October 2025 after the U.S. International Trade Commission ruled in Oura’s favor in a patent dispute, blocking the import of new ring inventory. In response, Ultrahuman redesigned the Ring Pro’s form factor to work around Oura’s patent. The updated device includes a reworked heart-rate sensing system aimed at improving signal quality during sleep, along with a dual-core processor that supports more accurate data collection and greater on-device processing.
The Category Expands Beyond Health Tracking
The competition is no longer limited to sleep and health monitoring. Rivals are racing to pack more smartphone-like capabilities into a two-gram titanium band. Some devices already push past the original concept: the Pebble Halo features a screen, though it is currently available only in India, while the Dreame Ring promises a touchpad.
That shift marks a departure from the original appeal of smart rings, which offered health tracking in a form less intrusive than smartwatches or smartphones, allowing users to step away from a screen while still monitoring their well-being. As manufacturers add more features, the devices increasingly resemble miniature computers worn on the finger.
Circular’s Ring 3 series is slated for early next year, while Ultrahuman’s EUR 412 Ring Pro begins shipping in the U.S. in mid-September.
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Image: techcrunch.com
