Ultrahuman wants to turn its smart ring from a health tracker into a platform for software developers, healthcare partners and other connected-device companies.
The India-based wearable startup has secured $70 million in financing at a reported valuation of $365 million, according to TechCrunch. The total consists of $65 million in equity and $5 million in debt, with Qualcomm Ventures, Labcorp, Alpha Wave, Blume Ventures, Nexus Venture Partners and Alteria Capital participating.
The funding will support a new ring powered by Qualcomm silicon, while Ultrahuman’s current devices use chips from Nordic Semiconductor. The additional processing power could allow more applications and algorithms to run directly on the ring instead of relying as heavily on a smartphone or the cloud.
For prospective partners, the important question is whether Ultrahuman can attract developers, healthcare companies and retailers to build and sell around the device. The company has not yet detailed a formal channel program or explained how third-party applications will be distributed and monetized.
The ring gets new jobs
Ultrahuman plans to bring some of these capabilities to existing Ring Air and Ring Pro devices through a software update by the end of September, according to Kumar. Planned features include game controls, AI interactions and support for third-party applications. Kumar also said future versions could allow the ring to function as a pointer, mouse or car key.
That could give Ultrahuman a different pitch from rivals such as Oura and Samsung. Instead of competing only on health metrics, it is trying to make the ring an input device that also knows what is happening inside the user’s body.
“A game controller never reads your heart rate and your temperature, but this one does,” Kumar said, describing games that could react to physiological signals as well as movement.
Growth comes with pressure
Ultrahuman told TechCrunch that it has sold approximately 800,000 rings and reached $140 million in annualized revenue, up 45% year over year. Kumar projected that annualized revenue would reach $200 million by January 2027.
Ultrahuman told TechCrunch that the US accounts for about 45% of its quarterly revenue, making its recovery there particularly important. The company stopped selling Ring Air in the US after an International Trade Commission ruling in its patent dispute with Oura. It subsequently returned to the market with the redesigned Ring Pro.
Kumar said US demand for Ring Pro is currently 18 to 20 times greater than available supply, although Ultrahuman did not disclose the underlying order or inventory figures. The company is also expanding in India and the UAE while investing in retail, clinical research and product development. Those investments could keep it unprofitable this year, according to Kumar.
From tracker to platform
The Qualcomm partnership may ultimately be Ultrahuman’s biggest test. More processing on the ring could enable new applications, but the tiny device still has to balance computing power, battery life and comfort.
Investor Labcorp is also working with Ultrahuman to explore whether wearable signals combined with blood-test data could help identify risks associated with cardiovascular health, fertility and aging. The companies have not yet presented clinical evidence showing that the combined data can reliably predict those outcomes.
Ultrahuman’s strategy is therefore bigger than adding new consumer features. The company is trying to make its health data more useful while creating a platform that outside developers and healthcare partners can build around.
Qualcomm’s investment gives Ultrahuman additional capital and chip expertise, but hardware alone will not turn the ring into a platform. Its next test is whether it can give developers, healthcare companies and retail partners compelling reasons to build, integrate and sell around the device — and whether customers find those added functions useful enough to adopt them.
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