Oura, the Finnish smart ring maker, announced a new investment a few weeks ago, reaching the valuation of over $5 billion. To put that in perspective, this is nearly the same value as when Microsoft acquired Nokia’s mobile phone business over a decade ago. What makes this even more interesting is that many Finnish startups, including Oura, were founded or influenced by Nokia alumni—individuals who left or had to leave after the decline of Nokia’s mobile phone empire.
Back in 2015, when Kickstarter was the hotspot for tech startups, a Finnish early-stage company approached Kauas for help with their Kickstarter campaign and the content to support it. That company was Oura, led by its founding team of Petteri Lahtela, Virpi Tuomivaara, and Kari Kivelä. Kauas helped Oura to create a launch campaign including product launch film, videos and other marketing materials for their Gen 1 ring.
The Kickstarter campaign was a success, providing the company with the momentum it needed to refine its product and chart the right path forward. The product itself was groundbreaking: a smart ring that tracked sleep phases and boasted a multi-day battery life but from an unknown startup from Finland – there was quite a lot of work to be done for conquering the world.
Between 2015 and 2017, Kauas was still a young but ambitious team with a passion for striking visuals, innovative tech, and meaningful collaborations. These shared values helped us quickly connect with the Oura founders, who were not only dedicated to building a world-class product but were also some of the kindest, most genuine people we had worked with.
In 2017, Oura returned to us with a brief for a new launch campaign for their Gen 2 ring—a product that would revolutionize the company. The new launch needed to reflect unseen innovation, so our team was set out to craft those stories and visuals that would capture the essence of the new ring. From detailed 3D renders to sporty video shoots and high-fashion photography, we worked tirelessly to showcase every aspect of the product, ensuring the founders’ vision remained central and clear.
The Gen 2 Oura ring launched at Slush 2017, with the founders taking center stage. The event was a resounding success, bringing Oura unprecedented publicity.
“The best fitness tracker is the one you wear every day, and the Oura smart ring makes it easy to do just that. It’s a genuinely useful little tool, and the ring form factor makes a real difference.” — TechRadar
“I was prepared to hate the Oura. But after wearing it for a month, I now acknowledge that things rich people like are very nice. It’s not exactly a fitness tracker but rather a small, smart, and most of all convenient health tracker that monitors vital signs few others do.” — Wired
The launch and subsequent success of the Gen 2 ring propelled Oura to incredible growth, especially in the U.S. market. By the end of 2018, much of the company’s marketing and decision-making had shifted to the United States, and we, as Kauas team, watched our client fly overseas. A decision that was both unfortunate and understandable, given their rapid evolution and need for larger resources when aiming to take over the US market.
Looking back, I feel immense pride in what our team accomplished during those early years. As a group of young creatives, we delivered work that set a high standard, even by today’s measures. Success is always the result of many factors and afterward it has been both encouraging and surprising to see how important the work was; we actually became one of those key factors in Oura’s story, according to their founder:
”Partnering with you was absolutely crucial at a very important moment, and thanks to your creativity and flexibility, everything went exceptionally well. It was a pleasure to collaborate with you.
Petteri LahtelaFounder - Oura
As time passes and memories become golden, learning from past decisions becomes valuable. Like turning down Oura equity in 2017? Yeah, not our finest moment. However, the overall experience provided us with pride and many good memories. For us, Oura has been a great reference for many years, helping us attract many new clients through the years. We wish to see many more of these success stories in Finland and our goal, as Kauas, is to be a part of as many similar journeys as possible.
Janne Tarvonen
Founder & Account Director at Kauas
