According to a recent FCC filing, the Oura Ring 4 is likely to launch any day now. In the meantime, however, the health hardware maker has another key bit of news to share. Oura announced Wednesday that it has acquired Veri, the Helsinki-based startup behind the metabolic health product of the same name.
The announcement arrives in the wake of Dexcom’s launch of Stelo, the first over-the-counter continuous glucose monitor. Abbott Laboratories followed suit last Thursday, with the launch of the $49 Lingo device. The FDA’s decision to clear over-the-counter glucose monitors is expected to play an important role in how Americans approach personal health.
Blood sugar levels are foundational to the Veri platform. The Finnish company notes, “Veri does more than show you blood sugar levels. We help you stabilize your levels by providing the insight and guidance you need to find the right foods and habits for you.” The firm says its offering helps users lose weight, increase energy, and improve sleep.
Oura CEO Tom Hale tells TechCrunch that, according to an internal survey, 97% of its users are “really interested in understanding how nutrition affects their health.” The more surprising stat, however, is that 13% of those surveyed have been wearing a continuous glucose monitor prior to the recent increased availability of the devices. That Oura competitor Ultrahuman has produced its own glucose monitoring patch likely also played a role in the acquisition.
Hale wasn’t clear on the specifics of how Veri’s platform will integrate into Oura’s offerings, only that it will be folded into its health suite. The Veri brand is going away by the end of 2024, along with the platform of the same name. Hale said it’s not entirely clear whether devoted Veri users will have to purchase a ring in order to access the service in this new form.
Oura already has a large office in Helsinki, which will take on these new employees. Hale says the company is trying to maintain as much of Veri’s existing headcount as makes sense.
“We’ll certainly take as much of the team as makes sense,” he says. “There’s certain things that maybe don’t make sense. They had prescription. We don’t need that because of over-the-counter. There are things like that that will change as a result.”
As for whether Oura plans to incorporate continuous glucose monitoring into its ring, Hale says the prospect is interesting, but currently something of a pipe dream.
“Knowing that we want to be both cognizant and understanding and have science guide our users about how glucose affects their health,” he explains, “you can imagine that — in some glorious future — maybe there’s some ways to detect glucose levels from a non-invasive device. The reality is that feels pretty far off.”
Oura has not disclosed the details of the deal.
