Oura Delays Nasdaq IPO a Day Before Planned Listing
Summary
- Oura said it delayed its Nasdaq IPO one day before the planned listing and withheld details including the offering price and share sale schedule.
- Chief Executive Officer Tom Hale said investor demand remains strong, but the company delayed the deal because of market uncertainty, adding that an IPO is only a midpoint in the company's growth.
- Foreign media reports said other major IPO candidates, including OpenAI and Anthropic, have also postponed their listings, signaling the IPO market has slowed from the first half.
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Oura, a smart-ring company focused on health monitoring, abruptly delayed its Nasdaq initial public offering one day before its planned listing, CNBC and The Wall Street Journal reported on September 29.
The company had been scheduled to set the offering price that day and begin trading on September 30. The indicated price range was $40 to $44 a share, with 50 million shares on offer. Investor interest was strong enough that orders reached four times the shares available.
After scrapping the IPO, Oura did not provide a new listing date or other details. Chief Executive Officer Tom Hale said in a statement that demand continues to grow, but the company chose to delay because of market uncertainty. He added that an IPO is only a midpoint in Oura's growth and that the company has flexibility in deciding when to list.
Oura was founded in Finland in 2013. Its ring tracks heart rate, sleep patterns, exercise and stress. Its paid membership costs $5.99 a month. The company had about 5.7 million paid members as of June.
In an IPO filing previously submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Oura said disruptions involving AI models and data centers provided by outside companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic and Google could affect its business. Foreign media reports said the delay appeared to be tied to rising concerns about AI safety, including calls to slow the pace of AI development.
Samuel Kerr, global head of equity capital markets at Mergermarket, said the IPO market has slowed in the second half from the first half. Companies with solid profitability will still face a stricter listing process than they did earlier this year.
OpenAI, one of the most closely watched IPO candidates, has delayed its listing timetable from this year to next year, citing the need for more AI safety checks. Rival Anthropic pushed back its listing by one month, from October to November. Holtec Nuclear, a U.S. small modular reactor company, has also put on hold its plan to list in New York this year.
Lee Mi-a, Hankyung.com reporter mia@hankyung.com
Korea Economic Daily
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