Finnish wearable tech company Ōura has announced it is acquiring US start-up Proxy in an all equity deal. Bloomberg reported that the deal valued Proxy at $185 million – quite the drop from the Pitchbook’s valuation of the identity tech company at $292 million in 2020.
Ōura says the acquisition of Proxy’s identification technology, along with its previously acquired smart ring patent portfolio, will helps its ‘ability to innovate and expand its smart ring technology’ as it vies for poll position in the consumer wearables market. Could we see our smart rings being used for wave to pay?
“We’ve always had a vision for software that gives users sovereignty over their digital assets and identity,” says Denis Mars, co-founder and CEO of Proxy. “We’ve been hustling in stealth mode developing a wearable with cutting-edge biometric authentication and security technology for a “wave to pay” future. By joining Ōura, the smart ring leader, we can change the game.”
Ōura currently focuses in several areas, including women’s health, illness detection, sleep, stress, and mental health.
“As the healthcare landscape continues to evolve with the development of new technologies, blockchain, encryption, and digital identity will become pivotal to enabling secure data privacy across industries for a frictionless experience,” says Michael Chapp, Ōura COO. “Continuous health data collected through wearable technology is the key to enabling personalised, precision care that will usher in a new era for the healthcare industry. Ōura is a mission-driven culture, boldly pursuing the healthcare space, and we’re excited about the opportunities this acquisition will help to unlock.”
In 2022, ŌURA launched Ōura Gen3 Horizon and announced a capital raise at a $2.55 billion valuation, less than a month after reaching the milestone of selling the one-millionth Ōura Ring.
“Ōura was founded on a culture of innovation, and has put great emphasis on building broad protection for our intellectual property. This deal expands Ōura’s leadership in health wearables and signals our ambitions to integrate digital identity technology with our existing hardware and software offerings,” said Tom Hale, Ōura CEO. “We are thrilled to collaborate with the innovative Proxy team to expand our addressable market, paving the way for new opportunities in areas such as payments, access, security, identity, and beyond, fuelling future growth. With the acquisition of Proxy, we have the most comprehensive portfolio in the smart ring space.”
The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.
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