Oura Is Buying AI Doctor Startup Counsel Health for $625 Million in Cash

SAN FRANCISCO - Oura has spent a decade telling people how they slept. Now it wants to tell them what to do about it, and to put a doctor on the other end of the app. The smart ring maker said on Tuesday that it has agreed to buy Counsel Health, an AI-native primary care company, for $625 million in cash, subject to purchase price adjustments.

Counsel pairs a medical chatbot with board-certified physicians. Members start by chatting with Counsel’s AI, which draws on connected medical records, clinical guidelines and continuous biometric data, and can bring in a Counsel doctor who can diagnose, prescribe and make referrals. Oura says that handoff can happen within minutes, all inside the Oura app. The two companies have partnered since May, and Counsel is already available to members through Oura Labs.

Screenshot: @CounselHealth on X

“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,” Oura chief executive Tom Hale said in the announcement. He described the goal as “a 24-7 doctor in your pocket.”

The money comes from a strong quarter. Oura said revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30 grew 153% from a year earlier to $533 million, with $87 million in adjusted EBITDA, a 16% margin. Revenue for its 2026 fiscal year was about $1.75 billion, up 92%. The company called the figures preliminary and unaudited.

“Oura’s record growth of 153 percent this quarter and our over six million members provides us the confidence to invest $625 million cash to acquire Counsel Health,” said David Shuman, Oura’s executive chairman. He said the deal “expands our addressable market,” because Counsel’s enterprise partners “open the door to millions of people beyond our existing member base.”

That second business matters. Counsel will keep selling its service to health plans, health systems and employers, including to people who never wear a ring. Counsel chief executive Muthu Alagappan will join Oura as chief clinical AI officer, along with the company’s 70 employees, Bloomberg reported, according to TechCrunch. Hale told Bloomberg the purchase is Oura’s largest to date “by multiples,” Quartz reported.

“At Counsel, we’ve built medical AI around trust, safety and responsibility, keeping physicians in the loop for clinical decisions,” Alagappan said. Oura stresses that members stay in control of their data: Counsel physicians see Oura data and past conversations only with permission. Oura says more than half of Counsel users in Oura Labs have chosen to share it.

Image: Oura

The deal arrives a few weeks after Oura postponed its planned IPO of up to $2.2 billion indefinitely, citing “uncertainty in the IPO market,” TechCrunch reported, and as rivals such as RingConn and Ultrahuman push into the smart ring market. Counsel had raised a $25 million Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz and GV a year ago. The companies expect the deal to close before the end of the calendar year, subject to customary closing conditions.