A smart ring usually knows when you sleep, how fast your heart is beating and how much you move. Ultrahuman now wants it to do something far more ambitious: become a tiny computer sitting on your finger.
• Ultrahuman has raised $70 million in fresh funding
• The company is moving beyond health and sleep tracking
• Its long-term goal is a software-powered smart ring
The Bengaluru-based company is now valued at about $365 million, roughly three times its 2023 valuation. Qualcomm Ventures joined Labcorp, Alpha Wave, Blume Ventures, Nexus Venture Partners and Alteria Capital in the latest funding round, which includes $65 million in equity and $5 million in debt.
• Qualcomm is backing Ultrahuman’s next stage of development
• The funding values the startup at $365 million
• The company has raised capital for hardware and software expansion
The biggest change could come from inside the ring itself. Ultrahuman is developing a new device using Qualcomm technology alongside its existing Nordic Semiconductor chips, giving the ring more computing power to run software and algorithms directly on the device rather than depending so heavily on a smartphone or the cloud.
• Qualcomm silicon will power a future Ultrahuman ring
• More processing could happen directly on the wearable
• The company wants developers to eventually create ring software
That could transform the ring from a passive health tracker into an unusual new control device. Ultrahuman is exploring features that could let users control games, interact with AI, use the ring like a mouse or pointer and potentially even use it as a car key. Some of these ideas are expected to reach existing Ring Air and Ring Pro devices through software updates.
• Smart rings could become AI interaction devices
• Gaming is one of the first new applications being explored
• Existing Ultrahuman rings are also getting new capabilities
Ultrahuman is making the bet while its core business continues to grow. The company says it has sold about 800,000 rings and is generating an annual revenue run rate of $140 million, with a target of $200 million by January 2027. Its ambitions now stretch well beyond fitness, potentially turning the finger into a new computing interface where software, AI and biometric data work together.
• Ultrahuman has sold around 800,000 rings
• Revenue is expected to keep climbing
• The company sees the finger as a new computing platform
Via: Tech Crunch
