Oura Is Buying AI Doctor Startup Counsel Health for $625 Million in Cash
Oura is buying Counsel Health, an AI primary care company with its own doctors, for $625 million in cash and expects the deal to close before year’s end.
Meet the brandTechnology · San Francisco, CA
Oura
Smart ring that tracks sleep, activity, and readiness data.
Founded 2013 by Petteri Lahtela, Kari Kivelä and Markku Koskela
Remember when a weird sleep score meant googling your symptoms at 2 a.m.?
Your ring said your readiness tanked and your temperature was up. So you opened a search bar, read three scary forum threads and went back to bed more worried than before.
What actually happened
Oura, the smart ring company, has signed a definitive agreement to buy Counsel Health for $625 million in cash, subject to purchase price adjustments. The deal is expected to close before the end of the calendar year, subject to customary closing conditions.
Counsel pairs medical AI with its own board-certified doctors. Members start by chatting with the AI, then can bring in a Counsel physician, who can diagnose, prescribe and refer when appropriate. The two companies have worked together since May, and Oura wants all of it inside the Oura App. CEO Tom Hale called the goal “a 24-7 doctor in your pocket.”
Oura also shared preliminary, unaudited numbers with the news. It says revenue grew 153% year over year to $533 million for the quarter ended Sept. 30, that it has more than six million members, and that full fiscal year revenue came to about $1.75 billion. Neither company has said what Counsel care will cost Oura members.
Our read: the ring wants to be your front door to a doctor
This is our read. Wearables are great at telling you something looks off and not great at telling you what to do next. Buying a care company is Oura’s bet that the next step should happen in the same app, not in a 2 a.m. search.
The reality check
The deal hasn’t closed, and the numbers Oura shared are still preliminary. There’s no price yet for members, and Counsel’s satisfaction scores come from its own surveys. Oura also says its ring is not a medical device, so your ring data is context for a doctor, not a diagnosis.
The close
The 2 a.m. symptom search might finally have competition. It could come from the same app that told you your sleep was bad.
Sources
Disclosure: WellWham has no affiliate links in this story.
Brand information: Counsel Health
