Smart rings coming to Texas as Oura announces plans for Fort Worth facility
Smart ring manufacturer Oura will begin making rings in Fort Worth, the company announced Wednesday.
The manufacturing facility will open in 2026, and will be dedicated to fulfilling the company’s contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense. The company did not disclose the location.
The Oura ring is a wearable sleep and fitness tracker that collects data on heart-rate variability, blood-oxygen rate, body temperature, and more. The Oura Ring 4 costs $350. Newer features include the option to get pregnancy insights and track your glucose levels through an integration with the continuous glucose monitor Dexcom.
“We did a pretty extensive search,” said Sheetal Shah, Oura’s chief supply chain officer. “Fort Worth just stood out.”
Shah said the company was looking for someplace with a good business environment, that had access to great talent, and that worked logistically for the company. The facility is expected to create dozens of jobs initially, he said, and then more jobs as the business grows.
The Department of Defense is Oura’s largest commercial customer, Shah said. The company has been working with the Defense Department since 2019, and has entered into more than 100 deals with them so far this year. The Oura ring’s abilities to track sleep, fitness and recovery are all particularly importance to the military, Shah said. The ring can also monitor symptoms and alert the wearer to impending illness early.
“Some of the things that are really important to to the Department of the Defense is, how do they manage stress? How do they do resilience training? How do they optimize fitness?” Shah said.
The Naval Health Research Center launched a program to study fatigue in sailors after 17 Navy sailors died in two collisions partially linked to crew fatigue in 2017. As part of that work, the research center selected the Oura ring to track sleep and other metrics, according to a news release from Oura. Later this year, about 1,600 sailors aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group will receive an Oura ring as part of the largest volunteer study on crew fatigue to date, according to Oura.
Researchers in the Army are also developing a model that will predict a soldier’s likelihood of achieving equipment certification on their attempt, according to a news release from Oura. That model will use biometric data collected by Oura rings.
“As we deepen our long-standing relationship with the U.S. Department of Defense, we’re proud to expand manufacturing to the United States,” Tom Hale, CEO of Oura, said in a statement. “We are committed to equipping service members and leadership with precise biometric data and robust solutions to support readiness, resilience, and effectiveness.”
This story was originally published August 28, 2025 at 9:41 AM.
