As the year draws to a close, rumors are growing about what announcements Samsung will make at its next event, which could be held in January. The Korean giant will, of course, present its new Galaxy S25 series. But according to rumors, it could also present its new Galaxy Ring 2 connected ring.
As a reminder, Samsung entered the connected ring market this year and became a competitor to the Finnish startup Oura, which is the benchmark in the field. Oura was founded in 2013 and, like many projects of the time, debuted on the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter. In 2024, some observers have wondered how the arrival of a giant like Samsung in its niche will affect this startup.
For its part, the brand reacted with this press release: “We are encouraged by the growing awareness of smart rings as more people recognize the unique benefits of this form factor. We’ve been in this space for over a decade, serving Android and iOS users, and we’ve built on our foundation of sleep and recovery tracking to expand categories, such as women’s health , heart health, and stress and resilience.” In other words, for Oura, Samsung’s arrival is validation.
A $5.2 billion startup
For the moment, it is clear that, despite the arrival of Samsung’s connected ring, the startup Oura is doing well. This December, it also announced a new Series D fundraising round. Oura raised $200 million, with the participation of Fidelity Management & Research Company and Dexcom, a world leader in biodetection of glucose. And now the company’s valuation has reached $5.2 billion. The funds raised will allow Oura to improve its products and technologies, but also to make acquisitions.
Furthermore, according to the startup, this financing round follows a phase of strong growth for it. Recently, Oura crossed the threshold of 2.5 million connected rings sold. The number of subscribers (since Oura also sells services to users of its rings) and revenues would also have doubled. “This year, ŌURA expanded its global retail presence through new partnerships with retailers such as Amazon and Target, and grew its commercial operations through expanded military partnerships,” it also says. the startup.
What is the point of connected rings?
At the moment, the smart ring market is a small niche. However, sales could explode in the coming years. Indeed, if connected watches already offer health and well-being monitoring functionalities, connected rings offer something similar in a more compact format. For example, some consumers could opt for the connected ring so as not to have to carry around a connected watch, or to benefit from health monitoring while wearing a classic watch.
