Updated September 29, 2026 at 10:49 PM ChST
Oura, the maker of smart rings used by millions of people to track sleep and heart rate patterns, has delayed its plans to go public in what was expected to be one of this year's blockbuster IPOs.
The company, whose sensor-laden rings have adorned the hands of celebrities including Lady Gaga and Coco Gauff, wanted to raise up to $2.2 billion in the share sale and begin trading on Nasdaq on Wednesday. But now it's citing "uncertainty in the IPO market" and delaying the plan "despite strong demand."
Oura did not specify which factors prompted the delay. While it's not the first firm to make this call in recent days, it is the most high-profile. Higher interest rates are weighing on markets, and investors are anxiously awaiting the public debut of AI giant Anthropic, which is in a heated debate about AI security. The typically IPO-busy September has been relatively quiet this year.
If Oura was able to sell its shares at the top of its price range, the IPO would have valued the firm at around $15 billion. This was slated to be one of the most lucrative turns for the supercharged wellness craze. Oura's rings have run circles around competitors, with growing profits. The company's first financial disclosure highlighted its massive trove of users' health data — and a loyal base of subscribers willing to pay a monthly fee.
Oura's success is "as much about this hardware aspect as it is about the subscription model and the revenue that comes from that," said Forrester analyst Arielle Trzcinski. Plus, "the fact that folks not only start wearing it and become paying members, but also that they wear it roughly five days a week, which is significant."
Sales of smart rings overall have been growing faster than sales of smartwatches, as more people look for health trackers that are lighter, more discreet or screen-free. While Apple has dominated the smartwatch category, it doesn't make a ring device. In that space, Oura has outrun rivals, including Samsung and Ultrahuman.
Oura says its user ranks have grown to 5.7 million people. And the brand attracts many first-timers: For about a third of its new customers, the ring is their first wearable device.
Oura's rings cost between $350 and $500, and the company also charges $6 a month for users to see most of their data and personalized health insights. Oura's pitch is that its rings can track more than 50 health metrics, including heart rate, body temperature, stress levels and sleep patterns.
Since its founding in 2013, the company says it's "amassed one of the largest and highest-quality longitudinal biometric datasets in consumer health" with nearly 42 billion hours of physiological data. The firm promotes its plans to expand its use of AI and machine learning to make predictions and recommendations.
The accuracy of Oura's data has also come under the spotlight in a recent class-action lawsuit. It alleges that the company has misled users about the quality of its sleep tracking. Oura disputes the allegations.
The smart-ring maker has reported growing profits. Oura's filing says its ranks of paying members doubled from 2024 to 2025 and again this year, to 5 million people. Its revenue jumped 74% from 2024 to 2025. Net profit was almost $61 million between October 2025 and June 2026.
Oura, founded in Finland and based in San Francisco, was planning to begin trading under the ticker symbol OURA.
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