Oura Brings Manufacturing to Texas, Turning Wearables Into Defense Readiness Tools
Oura is investing in Texas production to serve its largest enterprise customer, the Department of Defense, as its wearable rings are advancing both personal health and defense readiness
Oura may be best known for its smart ring that helps consumers track sleep and recovery and more, but its mission has grown more critical as it plans to invest in a manufacturing facility in Fort Worth, Texas, to support its largest enterprise customer: the Department of Defense (DoD).
The site, set to open in 2026, will focus on fulfilling defense contracts and feature enhanced security measures, advanced automation and new production practices that the wearable tech company plans to scale across all of its facilities.
“As we deepen our long-standing relationship with the U.S. Department of Defense, we’re proud to expand manufacturing to the United States,” Oura CEO Tom Hale said. “Our technology prioritizes security and has been proven in the most extreme environments – delivering a clear edge in accuracy, battery life and wearability. We are committed to equipping service members and leadership with precise biometric data and robust solutions to support readiness, resilience and effectiveness.”
Oura has worked with the DoD since 2019, deploying tens of thousands of rings across all branches of the armed services for stress management and resilience training, physical recovery optimization, fatigue risk management and early illness detection for warfighters and command units.
The company’s decision to establish production in Fort Worth also drew praise from local leaders. U.S. Representative Beth Van Duyne, who represents Texas’s 24th congressional district, said the expansion highlights North Texas’s reputation as a hub for innovation, talent and opportunity.
“This investment will create high-skilled jobs, strengthen our local economy, and advance cutting-edge technologies—including those with critical applications in defense and personal health,” Van Duyne said. “As more people turn to tools like Oura Ring to proactively manage their well-being, we welcome their expansion and look forward to supporting their continued success in North Texas.”
Oura’s investment comes as its devices are increasingly embedded in defense research. After the 2017 deaths of 17 Navy sailors in collisions tied to crew fatigue, the Naval Health Research Center launched the CREW program and selected the Oura Ring to track sleep and biometrics. Later this year, 1,600 sailors aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group will take part in the Navy’s largest volunteer fatigue study to date, each equipped with an Oura ring and access to the Oura app, which syncs to a secure enterprise platform for commanders to analyze rest and readiness.
The Army has also worked with Oura on predictive models of soldier performance, equipping more than 400 troops with rings to monitor biometrics before, during and after field exercises. Early findings suggest that biometric data could help predict operational effectiveness and inform more personalized training.
Oura is further collaborating with the DEVCOM Soldier Center, Air Force Research Laboratory and Naval Health Research Center on next-generation sensing and secure data collection. The company says its enterprise platform will also be available through Palantir’s FedStart, enabling deployment in higher-security environments.
“We take great pride in our Finnish heritage and our significant growth in the U.S. market, improving the health of millions of Americans,” Hale said. “Our American leadership team and workforce have played a critical role in driving our enterprise expansion, particularly as we continue to scale our multi-year partnership with the DoD, our largest customer.”