Oura, the maker of the health-tracking smart ring, is seeking to raise as much as $2.2bn in a Nasdaq listing that would value the company at roughly $14bn to $16bn. Beneath the headline, though, the offering is more a liquidity event for Oura's existing investors than a fundraising for the company itself. Of the 50 million shares being marketed at $40 to $44 each, Oura is selling just 13.5 million, while existing shareholders are offloading 36.5 million, roughly three-quarters of the deal.

The filing is explicit that "we will not receive any of the proceeds from the sale of the shares being sold by the selling stockholders," so the bulk of the up-to-$2.2bn will flow to early backers rather than funding company growth. Despite the accounting quirk that makes a highly profitable business look, at first glance, deeply loss-making, the IPO marks a significant milestone for the wearable technology sector. Investors will gain exposure to a company with strong unit economics, though the structure prioritizes investor exits over operational capital.

The offering highlights the growing trend of secondary sales in tech IPOs, where existing shareholders capitalize on valuation gains while the company itself raises minimal new capital.