Smart ring maker Oura is acquiring Counsel Health, a startup that combines a medical AI assistant with consultations from licensed physicians. The deal is valued at $625 million and is intended to help the company move beyond health monitoring: Oura now wants not only to collect health data but also to help users access medical care, TechCrunch reports.

From tracking health metrics to medical consultations

Counsel Health is developing an AI-powered virtual primary care platform. Users can ask its medical AI questions and receive personalized recommendations, and consult a licensed physician when needed.

The service has been integrated into the Oura app since June 2026. The acquisition will allow the companies to expand their existing partnership and combine smart ring data with medical consultations.

Oura plans to develop several areas of care: preventive care, treatment of acute conditions, specialty care, and support for patients with chronic conditions. In doing so, the company hopes to turn its app from a health monitoring tool into a more comprehensive healthcare platform.

Oura CEO Tom Hale explains the strategy simply: the ring helps users better understand their body's physiological processes, while Counsel enables them to act on that data—from getting answers to everyday questions and obtaining prescriptions to interpreting lab results, managing chronic conditions, and receiving specialist referrals.

Why Oura wanted a healthcare startup

Oura has dominated the smart ring market for several years, but competition is intensifying. Manufacturers such as RingConn and Ultrahuman are trying to capture market share, forcing the company to find new ways to stand out.

Expanding into healthcare services could be one such approach. A smart ring collects data on sleep, activity, and other physiological metrics, but cannot replace a medical consultation on its own. Integration with Counsel connects health monitoring with specialist advice and follow-up action.

This requires not only a large volume of collected data but also the ability to interpret it in a medical context. According to Counsel CEO Muthu Alagappan, Oura's data provides physicians with objective metrics, biometric trends, and insights into how actively users engage in managing their own health.

At the same time, Counsel emphasizes that medical decisions remain under physicians' control. The company built its AI platform with trust, safety, and accountability in mind, keeping medical professionals involved in clinical decision-making.

Counsel will retain its independent enterprise clients

After the deal closes, Counsel will continue serving both existing and new enterprise partners. Oura aims to bring this care model to a broader audience, beyond owners of its devices.

About 70 Counsel employees will join Oura as part of the acquisition. Alagappan will become chief clinical AI officer.

Before the acquisition, the startup had raised $36 million, according to PitchBook estimates. Its most recent major funding round—a $25 million Series A—took place a year ago. It was led by venture capital firms Andreessen Horowitz and GV.

The deal is expected to close by the end of 2027.

Business growth accelerates, but IPO is postponed

The Counsel acquisition comes amid rapid growth at Oura. For the quarter ended September 30, 2026, the company's revenue reached $533 million—up 153% from the same period a year earlier. For fiscal 2026, Oura generated approximately $1.75 billion in revenue, an increase of 92%.

In October 2025, the company raised $900 million in a late-stage funding round, bringing its valuation to $11 billion.

However, several weeks ago, Oura indefinitely postponed its IPO, through which it had hoped to raise up to $2.2 billion. The company attributed the decision to uncertainty in the IPO market.

The $625 million acquisition of Counsel shows that, rather than going public, Oura is continuing to expand its business through acquisitions and new business areas. The company wants to establish a stronger presence in the healthcare market, where value may lie not only in devices and the data they collect but also in services that help users make decisions about their health.