Fitness app Ultrahuman buys wearables firm LazyCo

LazyCo, the wearables company behind the Aina Ring that can be used to interface with a smartphone, has been snapped up by digital fitness and wellness company Ultrahuman.

Ultrahuman has developed an app-based platform for Apple and Android devices that combines workouts, mindfulness and sleep together into a single digital toolkit, available for an annual subscription fee, that can integrate with consumer wearables like the Apple Watch.

It has also made its own play in the wearables category with its Ultrahuman M1, a waterproof patch device that measures blood glucose and links via near-field communication (NFC) to a smartphone, which is used mainly by athletes to guide their training. Now, the LazyCo deal gives it a leg up in devices targeted at a broader consumer market.

[caption id="attachment_89549" align="alignright" width="166"] Aina Ring[/caption]

The Aina Ring is an artificial intelligence-powered interface, worn on the finger that uses Bluetooth to control smartphone functions using voice or gestures and make and receive calls by touching fingertips to an ear, whilst also including a fitness tracker and other functions.

Its developers claim that Aina is about 70% faster than using a smartphone touchscreen and 30% faster than interacting with smart speakers at getting tasks done.

Ultrahuman says it plans to tap into the expertise of LazyCo on hardware development and user experience, and the Aina Ring's two creators – company founders Apoorv Shankar and Yogansh Namdeo – will take the lead on that effort at the combined company.

They will be tasked with expanding the biomarkers that can be measured using Ultrahuman's wearables and to "improve global metabolic health standards."

While the M1 is targeted at people at athletes, Ultrahuman's move signals a shift towards developing wearables for the millions of people worldwide with metabolic disorders like diabetes, for example by helping them to make informed choices about what they eat and their activity levels.

"Ultrahuman's vision of making health more personalised and impactful for people syncs with LazyCo's vision of building products that solve problems for people in the most effortless ways," said Shankar.

"Together, we can create a deeper impact on the overall health of the world," he added.

Terms of the takeover have not been disclosed, but Ultrahuman is thought to be funding the transaction with the help of $25 million in venture capital funding raised since 2019, including a $17.5 million series B last August.