Oura Buys AI Care Startup Counsel Health for $625 Million

Oura will pay $625 million for Counsel Health, an AI-native primary care startup whose medical chat service already runs inside the Oura app. The company announced the acquisition on Tuesday, weeks after it postponed an up to $2.2 billion IPO indefinitely, citing "uncertainty in the IPO market."

The deal marks a strategic shift. Oura built its business on a smart ring that tracks sleep, heart rate and other biometrics. Now it wants to sell care, not just measurement.

What does Counsel Health actually do?

Counsel Health combines a chat-based medical experience with access to licensed physicians. Users describe symptoms to a medical AI, receive personalized advice, and can escalate to a real physician when needed. Oura integrated the service into its app in June.

The two companies plan to build across three areas: preventative care, acute care, and specialty and chronic care. That would move Oura well beyond sleep scores and readiness metrics.

Oura CEO Tom Hale framed the logic in the acquisition announcement. "Oura helps members understand their physiology and, with Counsel, they can take action on their health across a range of needs, from quick questions and prescriptions to lab results, chronic care, and referrals," he said.

Why is Oura buying rather than partnering?

Pressure is building on the smart ring leader. Rivals such as RingConn and Ultrahuman are emerging, and Oura must keep innovating to defend its dominant market position. Acquiring Counsel expands the business into medical care, a revenue stream hardware competitors do not yet offer.

The purchase also deepens Oura's moat with data. Counsel CEO Muthu Alagappan said Oura's biometrics give clinicians an edge no standalone chat service has.

"At Counsel, we've built medical AI around trust, safety and responsibility, keeping physicians in the loop for clinical decisions," Alagappan said in the press release. "Oura's data gives clinicians objective context, trended biometrics, and member engagement to deliver more informed care. From the start, our teams bonded over a joint vision, shared culture, and mission, further solidifying as we negotiated our deal over the past few month."

What were Counsel's finances and who joins Oura?

Counsel Health raised a $25 million Series A a year ago, led by Andreessen Horowitz and GV. Pitchbook estimates its total funding at $36 million. Oura is paying $625 million — roughly 17 times total capital raised.

Alagappan will join Oura as chief clinical AI officer. He brings his 70 employees with him, Bloomberg reports. Counsel will keep serving its existing and new enterprise partners after the deal closes, with the stated goal of expanding its AI-native care model to people beyond Oura's membership.

The transaction is expected to close before the end of 2027.

Can Oura afford it?

The financials suggest yes. Oura reported on Tuesday that revenue grew 153% year over year to $533 million for the quarter ended September 30. For its full fiscal year 2026, the company generated roughly $1.75 billion in revenue, up 92% year over year.

That growth rests on an $11 billion valuation, set in a $900 million late-stage funding round in October 2025.

The acquisition now defines Oura's post-IPO identity. A company that shelved its public listing this year is betting $625 million that the future of wearables lies in delivering care, not just counting steps and sleep stages.