Finnish wearable company Oura has announced in May 2021 a $100M Series C funding round led by the investment arm of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The support is unsurprising considering the company partnered with the NBA, WNBA, NASCAR, and the UFC in 2020 to provide its biometric tracking rings for COVID detection and general health monitoring to keep professional sports moving throughout the pandemic. A look at the Patent Forecast® suggests that Oura is using its recent business deals to inform new R&D and IP. The company's most recent patent asset, filed in June 2020, covers scoring and improving performance levels with athletes as an example use case.
Oura offers one of the only fitness tracking smart rings and has 13 patent assets compared to tech leaders Fitbit (220), Samsung (64), and Apple (34). Competitor Motiv was acquired by digital identity startup Proxy in 2020 and discontinued its products. In contrast, large electronics companies Philips and Bose have significant patent presence in Consumer Sleep but have not invested in wearable technology, and neither has a history of consumer tech acquisitions. Will a smaller company be on the lookout? Oura is staying consumer-focused, with another recent patent filing covering a smart alarm system that can wake up multiple people at the optimal time. Its new round of funding will likely bring more IP, which you can keep track of to stay ahead of product trends on the Patent Forecast®.
