Problem: In the words of William Penn, ”true silence is the rest of the mind, and is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment, and refreshment.”
So what effect does lack of sleep have on mental and human performance? Quite simply, a lack of sleep impairs cognitive function, emotional stability, physical health, and overall quality of life. In addition, lack of sleep can cause irritability, impatience, mood swings, and reduced productivity. It can also lead to accidents and injuries due to a lack of concentration and poor decision-making.
Lack of sleep is one of the most underrated and under-discussed factors when it comes to the conversation of human performance. According to the National Library of Medicine, 50 to 70 million Americans suffer from a disorder of sleep and wakefulness, hindering daily functioning and adversely affecting health and longevity. Sleep loss is oftentimes overlooked. Everyone knows we are a bit “off” without the proper amount of rest, but few know that the effects of poor sleep can impact more physiological factors. Chronic sleep loss has been attributed to health issues such as an increased risk of hypertension (also known as high blood pressure), diabetes, obesity, heart attack, and stroke.
The average adult needs seven to eight hours of sleep per night to function at their peak performance. However, given that chronic sleep loss has not been defined as a formal disorder or syndrome, many people overlook this when addressing medical concerns. Furthermore, sleep loss becomes more prevalent and will worsen in frequency as people get older. Thankfully, over the last decade or more researchers have been shining the spotlight on chronic sleep loss and its impact on human performance.
Enter: Oura. Oura is a, SF-based health and technology company that produces wearables and mobile health monitoring technology.
One of the most advanced wearables on the market, the Oura Ring is packed with sensors that measure a wide range of body metrics associated with fitness, sleep, and readiness for physical activities.
The Oura Ring uses body temperature, blood oxygen levels, heart rate and heart rate variability, and breathing rate to determine which stage you’re in at any given moment while you sleep — and how long you spend in that stage before transitioning to the next. By tracking the quality and quantity of your sleep and activity throughout the day, Oura provides actionable insights to drive better performance.
Why We Invested: When we met former CEO and co-founder of Oura, Harpreet Rai, for lunch one afternoon, he amazed us with the scale of their vision to improve life for people on a global scale. Harpreet’s deep understanding of the health industry and innate desire to see their vision to completion blew us away. The team at Oura were professional, talented, and driven. We were convinced they could revolutionize this sector and do it in line with our shared principles. Today the Oura ring Gen3 delivers a host of new more sophisticated, research-grade hardware sensors and software features including daytime heart rate monitoring, an improved temperature tracking system, new period prediction capabilities, and guided meditation and sleep content. Workout heart rate monitoring, blood oxygen sensing, and an enhanced sleep staging algorithm are slated to follow this year.
Team: Harpreet Rai, Founder and Former-CEO
Harpreet Singh Rai is the former chief executive officer of Oura and a member of its board. His purpose is to be part of a team that is committed to improving the well-being of others. Under his leadership, Oura grew to a team of nearly 100 employees and has launched its Generation 2 ring, shipping over 100,000 units to 90 different countries. He was responsible for Oura’s vision and strategy and guided decisions that ensured the organization’s financial health. Before Oura, Rai was a portfolio manager who led the technology, media and telecom portfolio at Eminence Capital for 9nine years. He began his career working in Morgan Stanley’s merger and acquisitions group. Rai studied electrical engineering at the University of Michigan.
What the future holds: Sleep tech devices have been on the rise in recent years as people have become more interested in improving their sleep quality. The market size for these devices is currently estimated at $2.5 billion, and is projected to grow to $4.8 billion by 2025. This growth is due in part to the increasing awareness of the importance of sleep, as well as the increasing availability of Sleep Tech devices. The old ideas of medical monitoring are dead. The image that monitoring needs to be accompanied by countless patches stuck across our chest and head, connected to loud beeping bulky machines that we don't understand, is outdated. Oura ring Gen3 is carving the path of modern medical monitoring. Oura’s sleek and modern ring designs are not just stylish but fit so comfortably that it is easy to forget the incredible capabilities they have in revolutionizing the practice of medical monitoring.
Beyond the increased awareness and adoption of this wearable in particular, we are excited to see how the technology will be interoperable with other companies. What excites us most about Oura is the belief that Oura will be the platform upon which a bunch of other companies are built- able to integrate with the platform and provide a whole other set of goods and services that only a decentralized group of people with different ideas could. If you have any ideas that lay in this direction, don’t feel shy to reach out!