Oura
Smart ring maker Oura will soon have a new CEO following the departure of its former top executive, Harpreet Singh Rai.
On Friday, Rai announced he is stepping down. In a LinkedIn post, Rai said he had achieved a number of milestones during four and a half years at the company, including:
- Growing revenue by 100x
- Increasing headcount by 20x
- Securing $140M in funding
- Launching new hardware and a subscription model
Power user turned CEO. In 2016, Oura co-founder Kari Kivelä was in New York City, hoping to raise capital for his fledgling startup.
While shopping at a local Whole Foods, Kivelä struck up a conversation with a man wearing an Oura ring. It was the first time he’d seen someone wearing the device outside of the company’s headquarters in Finland.
As luck would have it, that someone was Harpreet Singh Rai — a Wall Street hedge fund manager who recently lost 50lbs using Oura. A huge fan, Rai invested in the company and joined the board. Later, he’d become Oura’s CEO.
Looking ahead: So far, there’s no word on who will fill Rai’s vacancy. But, as the competition in health wearables heats up, Oura will have a new chief at the helm.
