Oura has agreed to buy Counsel Health for $625 million in cash, folding an AI-native primary care company whose physicians can already diagnose, prescribe and order labs into the Oura app.

The San Francisco smart-ring company announced a definitive agreement on Tuesday, Nov. 10. The purchase is subject to price adjustments and is expected to close before the end of the calendar year, subject to customary closing conditions, according to a joint announcement posted on Counsel's newsroom and issued via Business Wire. The companies did not name any specific regulatory approvals, breakup fees or other conditions.

The deal tests a question Oura has been circling for months: whether a paid membership for a consumer wearable can become a path to actual medical care. Counsel is already in the Oura app as a Labs feature for U.S. members. It is not included in Oura's regular membership, which costs $5.99 a month or $69.99 a year in the United States. Members who want a doctor pay extra.

What members pay today

Oura has partnered with Counsel since May and publicly launched the integration on June 8. In Oura Labs, members get a 30-day free trial of Counsel's medical AI. After that, or to reach a licensed physician, they can buy unlimited access to the medical AI and doctors in the app for $159 a year, a fee eligible for HSA and FSA cards, according to Oura's support pages, last updated Oct. 28, and a June partnership post updated Oct. 19. Of that fee, $76.50 goes to Counsel Medical Group for physician visits; the rest covers Oura's platform costs. Insurance does not cover the Counsel subscription, Oura says, though it may cover prescriptions or treatments that follow.

Tuesday's announcement did not say whether that $159 price will change, whether Counsel will later be bundled into the base membership, or when the experience will move out of Labs. "We'll share more as the experience comes to the Oura App," Oura wrote in a company blog post. On Counsel's own site, people who are not coming through Oura can chat with the medical AI for free, pay $29 for a physician visit that stays open seven days, or buy unlimited doctor visits for $300 a year. Counsel does not require insurance.

What Counsel does

Counsel, founded in 2023 by Dr. Muthu Alagappan, a Stanford-trained physician and former chief medical officer at Notable Health, pairs a medical AI chatbot with in-house, board-certified physicians. Members start in chat. A physician can join the same thread to diagnose, prescribe, order labs or make a referral. Counsel says it does not prescribe controlled substances, is not for emergencies and is limited to people 18 and older. It recommends that patients keep an in-person primary care doctor for physicals, vaccinations and ongoing chronic-care management.

Physicians are typically available from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week, Counsel says. The medical AI is available at any time. Oura Chief Executive Tom Hale called the combination "the promise of a 24-7 doctor in your pocket," a phrase that goes further than Counsel's stated physician hours.

Counsel says it is HIPAA and SOC 2 compliant, does not sell data and does not use patient data to train AI models. In the Oura app, members must consent before Counsel physicians can see their ring data. Oura said that since the partnership began, more than half of Counsel users in Oura Labs have shared that data.

Where the service is offered is less tidy. Oura's current Labs help page says Counsel is available in 43 states and is not offered in Arkansas, the District of Columbia, Kansas, Mississippi, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Washington or West Virginia, which Oura attributes to telemedicine rules that require a video visit to establish a relationship in those places. Counsel's consumer site lists the same exclusions except New Mexico, which it does not mention. The two lists do not match.

Alagappan is joining Oura. The announcement did not name his title. Counsel will keep serving health plans, health systems, employers and other partners, including people who do not wear an Oura Ring.

Counsel raised $11 million in seed funding in October 2024, in a round led by Andreessen Horowitz's Bio + Health practice, with participation from Asymmetric Capital Partners, Floodgate and Pear VC, according to a company press release. In October 2025 it announced an oversubscribed $25 million Series A co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and Google Ventures. Crunchbase lists total equity funding of $36 million. By Sayer's calculation, the $625 million purchase price is about 17 times that total. Counsel has not disclosed revenue.

How it compares

The purchase puts Oura further into care delivery than two of the rivals it is often measured against. Whoop sells Advanced Labs, clinician-reviewed blood tests run with Quest Diagnostics, starting at about $150. Whoop says the service "does not provide medical advice or diagnoses" and is not meant to substitute for professional medical care. In July 2025, the Food and Drug Administration issued a warning letter over Whoop's Blood Pressure Insights feature, arguing it was a medical device marketed without clearance. The FDA closed that letter in June 2026, according to Healthcare Dive and MD+DI.

Apple, in a Sept. 9 announcement, added a redesigned Health app with Apple Intelligence insights, a readiness score, and the ability to buy lab tests covering more than 50 biomarkers for $119 at about 2,000 Quest locations. When cycle patterns suggest perimenopause, Apple says it will notify users so they can "speak to their doctor." Those tools remain insights and flags, not an in-app physician who can prescribe.

The IPO Oura put on hold

The deal lands on a different financial picture than the one Sayer reported when Oura filed its S-1 on Sept. 3. That filing, which sought a Nasdaq listing under the ticker OURA, showed $1.2145 billion of revenue for the nine months ended June 30, up 74 percent, and 5.0 million paid members. On Sept. 21, Oura launched an offering of 50 million shares at an expected $40 to $44 each. Eight days later it postponed the IPO, saying it was delaying the listing "despite strong demand, due to uncertainty in the IPO market."

"We aim to deliver an extraordinary IPO for our employees and investors and we have the luxury of choosing our moment," Hale said at the time.

The company has since reported stronger figures, still preliminary and unaudited. For the quarter ended Sept. 30, revenue rose 153 percent to $533 million, and adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP measure, was $87 million, a 16 percent margin. For the full fiscal year, Oura said revenue was about $1.75 billion, up 92 percent. On Oct. 22 it said it had reached six million paid members. Executive chairman David Shuman, announcing the Counsel purchase, pointed to "our over six million members" and "the confidence to invest $625 million cash."

"Oura tells members what's happening in their bodies, and Counsel helps them act on it," he said.

How Oura will fund a $625 million cash deal is not disclosed. In the amended S-1, cash and cash equivalents were $371.8 million as of June 30, less than the purchase price. The company has not published a later cash balance. In October 2025, Oura said a Series E round of more than $900 million led by Fidelity Management & Research Company valued it at $11 billion, according to CNBC's report of that announcement.

The ring itself, Oura still reminds buyers, "is not a medical device and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, monitor, or prevent medical conditions or illnesses." Buying Counsel does not change that disclaimer. It does put a licensed medical practice, and a paid doctor's visit, under the same roof as the membership that sold the ring.