Companies CEO of Oura, a smart ring manufacturer based in Finland, resigns – Consumer reviews criticize third ring version released in autumn

Finnish CEO of Oura, a smart ring manufacturer Harpreet Singh Rai leaving his job, Oura announced Thursday night.

Chief Operating Officer of the Company Michael Chapp will perform the duties of the CEO while the company’s Board of Directors and management begin looking for a new CEO.

Rai, who left the position of CEO, first joined the company as an investor in 2016, but first took a more active role in 2017 and started as CEO in 2018.

“I am proud of Oura’s team and the vision we have set. I know Michael and the management team will carry Oura forward. I’m a fan and advocate of Oura forever, and I can’t wait to see what comes next, ”Rai says in the company’s press release.

Read more: Investors believe that the smart ring company Oura is already more valuable than Rovi

Previously this fall, Oura released the third version of his smart ring. At the same time, it said it will introduce a monthly fee for the ring.

In the future, Oura users will have to pay a monthly fee of six dollars, or about five euros, to access all the content offered by the Oura app.

“Turnover from monthly subscriptions enables product development that pays off again,” CEO Rai told HS in early October.

In addition to the monthly fee, consumer reviews criticized the new generation ring for not having all of its features available at the time the product went on sale.

Oura was founded in Oulu in 2013. Last spring, it already had about 250 employees, half of whom still worked in Finland.

The founders of the company Petteri Lahtela, Kari Kivelä and Markku Koskela left the company last year. The company’s management transferred to the U.S. Raille in the summer of 2018. Oura’s marketing and communications are also currently handled in California, close to the company’s customers and main market area.

According to the company, the departure of the founders was a change related to Oura’s international growth phase and did not involve any conflict.

Oura’s net sales were EUR 26.7 million in 2019 and almost EUR 60 million last year. The company still has a significant research and development center in Oulu.

Read more: This is how the Finnish smart ring ended up on Prince Harry’s finger – the story of the coveted Oura

Ouran the smart ring measures its wearer with various sensors and sensors including resting heart rate, heart rate variability, body temperature and how much he is moving.

In particular, the ring tells the wearer about their sleep, the state of recovery, and provides related feedback and advice. The app indicates the readiness level by how well the body has recovered during sleep.

The company gained extra momentum for its business from the interest rate pandemic. It said in the spring of 2020 it was investigating the possibility of using the ring to detect coronavirus. The data collected by the ring hinted to the user about the illness even before the onset of bigger symptoms.

This sparked interest in companies and the sports world, for example, the NBA basketball league ordered 2,000 smart rings for its players and staff last summer.

Last In the spring, Oura said that it had raised $ 100 million from international investors, which is about EUR 83 million in equity financing.

According to HS Vision, Oura’s market capitalization in the spring financing round was approximately $ 800 million, or EUR 660 million at the then exchange rates.

Many well-known figures have invested in the company, including the founder of the computer company Dell Michael Dell, actor Will Smith and a basketball legend Shaquille O’Neil.

Oura’s investors also include Twitter’s CEO, who has just left the pest Jack Dorseyn founded by technology company Square, which changed its name to Block this week.