Ultrahuman, an Indian startup best known for making smart rings, has raised $70 million in a new funding round that includes backing from Qualcomm’s venture arm, as it looks beyond sleep and health tracking to build a ring that can run software on the device and eventually power everything from AI interactions to games. The round values Bengaluru-based Ultrahuman at $365 million, about three times its $120 million valuation in 2023, a person familiar with the matter told TechCrunch. Qualcomm Ventures participated in the financing alongside U.S. diagnostics giant Labcorp, Alpha Wave, Blume Ventures, Nexus Venture Partners, and Alteria Capital.
The round includes $65 million in primary equity and $5 million in debt, Ultrahuman founder and CEO Mohit Kumar said in an interview. Ultrahuman is also working with Qualcomm on a new ring that will use the U.S. chipmaker’s silicon, replacing the Nordic Semiconductor chip it currently uses, Kumar told TechCrunch. The added computing power will allow more software and algorithms to run directly on the ring, reducing its reliance on a phone or the cloud, he said.
This could open the ring to use cases well beyond health and sleep tracking, something Ultrahuman rings are known for. Developers, Kumar said, could eventually write their own programs for the device, while Ultrahuman is exploring ways for the ring to work as a pointer or mouse, a game controller, a car key, and an interface for interacting with AI. Kumar told TechCrunch that some of the new capabilities will arrive on the startup’s existing Ring Air and Ring Pro (pictured above) through a software update by the end of September, including features that would let the ring work as a game controller and interact with AI applications, as well as the ability to allow third-party developers to build new features.
Ultrahuman’s idea is to take advantage of the ring’s position on a user’s finger, Kumar said. Unlike a smartwatch, which he described as more akin to “a phone on the wrist,” a ring could act as a precise pointing and interaction device while also carrying physiological context such as a user’s heart rate, temperature, and movement. He continued by imagining games that could respond not only to a player’s movements but also to signals such as their heart rate and body temperature, making the ring both a controller and a source of physiological context.
Meanwhile, Ultrahuman’s existing business is growing even as the startup looks to expand what its rings can do. The startup, Kumar said, is currently at an annual revenue run rate of $140 million, up roughly 45% from a year earlier, and expects that run rate to reach $200 million by January 2027. It has sold around 800,000 rings to date, up from about 700,000 in February, Kumar mentioned.
About 12% of its users also pay for PowerPlugs, Ultrahuman’s subscription-based software features. Co-founded by Kumar and Vatsal Singhal in 2019, Ultrahuman initially debuted with its continuous glucose monitors to help people track their metabolic health. The startup, however, later moved into smart rings, which have since become the mainstay of its business.
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