Smart ring maker Oura has withdrawn its planned IPO, only days after formally launching the plans on 21 September.

The company said at the time it planned to raise up to $2.2 billion (£1.7bn) through the sale of 50 million shares on the Nasdaq index, giving it an implied market value of $15bn.

Oura didn’t indicate why it was changing its plans, but it is the latest company to withdraw a major US IPO amid changing conditions, including rising central bank benchmark interest rates.

Negative sentiment

Chief executive Tom Hale said an IPO was “one step in our journey” and the company had “the luxury of choosing our moment”.

The company is profitable, with revenue expected to grow 90 percent year-on-year for fiscal 2026.

In its last full financial year, ending 30 September 2025, Oura recorded a pre-tax profit of $23.5m on sales of $907.8m, compared to a pre-tax profit of $6.2m the previous year.

In September, US nuclear technology company Holtec International also postponed its flotation, blaming a “confluence of developments that has impaired investor confidence in the market for new public offerings”.

It specified rising energy costs, trade tensions and inflation concerns that have led the US Federal Reserve and other central banks to raise interest rates.

Last week the interest rate on US debt repayable in 10 years’ time reached its highest level since 2007.

Oura’s smart rings have grown in popularity in recent years, as people look to track metrics such as sleep, health and fitness using a device less bulky than a smart watch, selling about 3.6 million units in the past year, according to a September filing.

The company’s devices retail for up to nearly $500, and users can also buy paid memberships providing tracking of more than 50 health metrics and personalised advice on nutrition, conception and fertility planning, and therapy and medication monitoring.

The service had more than five million paid members as of 30 June, according to Oura’s filing.

Oura has benefited from a trend sometimes referred to as “sleepmaxxing”, or a quasi-obsessive measurement of one’s sleep patterns in order to maximise daytime performance – something health experts warn can actually lead to worse sleep.