Smart Ring Evolves: AI, Games, and More on Your Finger

Ultrahuman, an Indian startup, has successfully raised $70 million in a new funding round, significantly increasing its valuation to $365 million. This investment round saw participation from notable entities including Qualcomm Ventures and Labcorp.

The core of this funding is to transform Ultrahuman's smart rings from mere health trackers into powerful, on-device computing platforms. Future rings will leverage Qualcomm's silicon, allowing for enhanced software and algorithms to run directly on the device, reducing reliance on external devices or cloud services.

This technological shift aims to unlock a wide range of new use cases. Beyond health and sleep tracking, Ultrahuman envisions rings functioning as pointers, game controllers, car keys, and interfaces for AI interactions. Developers will also be able to create custom applications for the rings.

Even before the next generation of hardware, Ultrahuman plans to roll out software updates to its current Ring Air and Ring Pro models by the end of September. These updates will introduce AI interaction capabilities and game controller features, along with support for third-party developer tools.

The company's existing business is also showing strong growth, with an annual revenue run rate of $140 million, representing a 45% increase year-over-year. Ultrahuman has sold approximately 800,000 rings to date, with the U.S. being its largest market, despite a recent patent dispute that temporarily halted sales there.

Ultrahuman plans to use the capital to expand its presence in markets like India and the UAE, focusing on physical retail touchpoints. While profitability is not expected this year due to investments in expansion and research, the company is looking towards an IPO in 2028, after demonstrating sustained profitability.