🔊 How This Wearable Company Reached An $11 Billion Valuation

This week, Oura Health, maker of the Oura smart ring used to track sleep and physical activity, raised over $900 million in a Series E funding round.

The round, led by Fidelity Management & Research Company with participation from ICONIQ, Whale Rock, and Atreides, among others, values the company at $11 billion.

This investment will be used to accelerate AI and product innovation, expand global distribution, and develop new health features to grow Oura into a more comprehensive health platform.

Oura has sold over 5.5 million rings since 2015, and more than half of those sales occurred in the past year alone.

The company has also reported revenue of over $500 million in 2024, and is on track to double revenue again in 2025.

Why Does This Matter?

The sports industry remains the best proving ground for consumer brands, and Oura's trajectory is a perfect example of this.

Oura launched in 2013 as a general wellness wearable to track biometric signals like sleep, temperature, and heart rate variability.

Professional athletes weren't the initial focus.

But when COVID hit and the NBA and WNBA needed health monitoring for the bubble, Oura seized the moment.

They established partnerships with the leagues, brought on high-profile ambassadors like LeBron James, Chris Paul, and Jalen Brunson, and transformed the brand's credibility overnight.

That credibility led to more distribution and awareness.

Several other athletes, teams, and leagues followed.

Today, Oura is a multi-billion-dollar company.

Sports were one of the main catalysts that drove them to this outcome.

We’ve also witnessed this blueprint with other “sports” consumer companies:

Each validated their products with athletes in one of the most demanding environments on earth, then scaled to mass consumers.

The lesson?

Sports isn’t the endgame, but it is the ideal launchpad.

Win with athletes, prove your product works at the highest level of competition, then bring it to everyone else.

• Catapult Sports Acquires Impect. Catapult, an Australian-based sports tech company, has agreed to acquire Impect, a leading innovator in soccer analytics software, in a deal worth up to €78 million ($90.2 million). Catapult raised AUS$150 million ($96.7 million) to fund the acquisition, which includes a AUS$130 million ($83.8 million) institutional placement and a share purchase plan attempting to raise a further AUS$20 million ($12.9 million). Impect, founded in 2014, specializes in cloud-based software that analyzes data to create player assessment metrics, inform recruitment, opponent analysis, and internal benchmarking capabilities for squad assessment (more here).

• Winners Acquires Moneyline Sports. Winners Inc., a company that provides analysis and handicapping advice, announced that it has purchased Moneyline Sports, a Nevada-based sports technology company. Under the terms, Moneyline Sports will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Winners and will continue to operate as an independent entity with its current management team remaining in place. The acquisition was structured as a sale and purchase between the two companies, in which Winners will receive 100% of Moneyline Sports’ issued and outstanding stock and its IP assets, and all shareholders of record for Moneyline Sports will receive an 85% ownership stake in Winners Inc. (more here).

• The Arena Group Acquires Lindy's Sports Digital Assets. The Arena Group Holdings announced its acquisition of the digital assets of Lindy’s Sports, a historic sports publication founded in 1982. This acquisition strengthens The Arena Group’s position in the sports media market. It underscores its growth strategy of building scale and profitability by transforming established media brands into modern digital platforms. The Arena Group’s sports publications also include TheStreet, Parade, Men’s Journal, and Athlon Sports (more here).

• Oakley Capital Acquires Majority Stake In NOX. Oakley Capital, a London-based private equity firm, has acquired a majority stake in NOX, a Spanish manufacturer renowned for its high-performance padel rackets. Oakley will partner with the NOX management team to accelerate the brand’s international expansion, with a particular focus on the US and Asian markets, where padel is gaining traction. Oakley Capital's stake via the fund is expected to be worth around £9 million (approximately $12 million) (more here).

• Jabbr Raised $5M. Jabbr, an AI-driven combat sports analytics company, has raised a $5 million seed round. The funding was led by Buckley Ventures, with participation from SevenSevenSix by Alexis Ohanian, John Zimmer (Lyft co-founder), and Olympic Gold Medalist Andre Ward, among others. The new funding will be used to scale the company's AI technology, DeepStrike, and make it available to a wider audience, including gyms and local fight venues. The company aims to expand access to professional-level fight analytics beyond major promotions (more here).

• Airoclip Raises $2.75M. Airoclip, a Bengaluru-based AI-powered gaming studio, has gained $2.75 million in a seed funding round. T-Accelerate Capital (TAC) led the funding round, supported by Centre Court Capital and Bitkraft Ventures. This capital injection will fund the company's push into personalized AI-based gaming content, data analytics, and design, along with scaling up its teams based on live operations and boosting its go-to-market efforts (more here).

• Alexis Ohanian Invests In LA League One Volleyball Team. League One Volleyball (LOVB), the largest volleyball organization in the US, announced its seventh franchise coming to Los Angeles, backed by one of women’s sports’ most visible investors. The ownership group will be led by Reddit founder and prominent venture capitalist Alexis Ohanian’s investment firm, Seven Seven Six. Ohanian, one of the most notable investors in women’s sports, has a portfolio that already includes teams such as Angel City FC and TGL LA Golf Club. Financial details were not disclosed (more here).

• F1 & Apple Announce Partnership. This week, Apple and Formula 1 announced a five-year media rights deal that will bring all races exclusively to Apple TV in the US, starting in 2026. In addition to showing F1 on Apple TV, Apple will amplify the sport across Apple News, Apple Maps, Apple Music, Apple Sports, and Apple Fitness+. This new broadcast agreement will see Apple TV host all Free Practice, Qualifying, Sprint sessions, and Grands Prix. Select races and all Free Practice sessions throughout the season will also be available to watch for free in the Apple TV app as well (more here).

• WSL Football & Apple Announce Partnership. The Women’s Super League (WSL) and Apple have announced a partnership in which all WSL clubs and officials will be equipped with Apple products, including the MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, iPad Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and AirPods Pro 3, to support coaching, match analysis, and real-time decision-making. WSL Football hopes that the tech will help streamline matchday operations, with iPad Air devices introduced for digital team sheets and live match reporting by fourth officials, replacing paper-based systems and improving administrative efficiency (more here).

• Underdog & St. Louis Blues Announce Partnership. The St. Louis Blues have announced a new partnership with Underdog, a rapidly growing US sports betting company. The multi-year deal positions Underdog as the Blues’ first official sports betting partner, ahead of Missouri’s anticipated launch of regulated online wagering later this year. Underdog will also create interactive experiences for Blues fans at both home and away games throughout the NHL season. The collaboration extends beyond game nights, encompassing marketing integrations, digital content, and live in-person activations that immerse fans in the evolving sports betting landscape (more here).

• Enjoy Basketball & NBC Sports Announces Partnership. Enjoy Basketball, a digital media and lifestyle company co-founded by popular YouTube creator Kenny Beecham, announced a partnership with NBC Sports to bring its popular basketball podcasts to NBCUniversal’s streaming channels, Peacock, and NBC Sports NOW. The partnership marks the first time NBC Sports has partnered with a creator-led media company to produce original NBA programming, underscoring the network’s commitment to embracing digital voices shaping the modern basketball conversation (more here).

• Bob Myers Joins HBSE As President. Former Warriors head of basketball operations Bob Myers is leaving his position as an ESPN analyst for a full-time role at Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, the company that owns the Sixers and other sports franchises, founded by David Blitzer and Josh Harris. Myers’ goal in his new job will be “maximizing opportunities and bolstering processes across HBSE’s portfolio of sports properties,” as well as supporting Josh Harris, who is also the Sixers’ co-governor. In addition to the 76ers, HBSE owns the NHL’s New Jersey Devils and Crystal Palace FC in the Premier League. Harris is also the managing partner of the NFL’s Washington Commanders (more here).

• Sportico Releases 2025 NBA Valuations. This week, Sportico released its updated NBA valuations, with the Golden State Warriors being the most valuable NBA team and number two among sports franchises globally. The Warriors are worth $11.33 billion, surpassed only by the NFL's Dallas Cowboys at $12.8 billion. This is the fifth consecutive year that the Warriors have held the highest valuation in Sportico's NBA rankings. Trailing them are the Los Angeles Lakers ($10 billion), New York Knicks ($9.85 billion), Los Angeles Clippers ($6.72 billion), and Boston Celtics ($6.35 billion) (more here).

• SPIRE Academy Launches Performance Research Institute. This week, SPIRE Academy, a premier multisport boarding school and training institution, announced the launch of the SPIRE Performance Research Institute (SPRI), an applied research and innovation lab focused on youth athlete performance, health outcomes, and real-time validation of emerging sports technologies. The institute operates within SPIRE’s live training environment on its 800-acre Northeast Ohio campus, housing student-athletes from over 40 countries (more here).

• How The NBA Has Evolved Into A Media & Technology Company. For most of the first eight decades of its existence, the NBA was a basketball league, building it into a multi-billion-dollar behemoth. Over the last few years, however, the league has begun to view itself in a different light within its Midtown Manhattan offices. NBA executives say this evolution in mission and perspective is not a redirection of what the league has traditionally done, but an outgrowth of it (more here).

This week’s guest on the Vetted Sports podcast is Jack Adler.

Jack Adler is the Founder & CEO of Out2Win.

Out2Win is a data intelligence platform that streamlines the way brands discover, analyze, and connect with athletes for influencer marketing partnerships.

In this episode, we discuss:
‣ How he pivoted from agency to tech platform
‣ His thoughts on how NIL is shifting collegiate athletics
‣ How companies should be thinking about partnering with student-athletes

Check out the full episode here: Apple | Spotify | YouTube