Bengaluru-based health technology startup Ultrahuman has entered a strategic partnership with Abu Dhabi health authorities to create a biological-age assessment model. The company announced on Monday that it signed a two-year memorandum of understanding with the Abu Dhabi Public Health Center (ADPHC) to develop and clinically validate the tool, which merges clinical biomarkers with data collected from wearable devices.
The initiative aims to estimate the rate at which an individual is aging and pinpoint specific lifestyle and physiological factors—such as cardiovascular health, metabolism, sleep quality, and physical activity—that may accelerate or decelerate the aging process.
This collaboration represents a significant shift in Ultrahuman’s business strategy, moving beyond hardware sales to deploy health algorithms on a mass scale. CEO Mohit Kumar described the organization as fundamentally a health-data company, with the smart ring serving merely as one of several data acquisition points.
“Truly, what we care about is not just the form factor, the ring, but what do we do with this data?” Kumar said. By leveraging government infrastructure, the startup can apply its algorithms to a population far larger than its current customer base of approximately 800,000 rings sold globally.
Kumar emphasized that the biological-age model is designed to be device-agnostic. It will accept input from various wearables, including wristbands, straps, and patches, in addition to rings. Once validated, residents of the UAE will be able to access their health age metrics through government digital platforms such as TAMM and Sahatna.
The next two years will focus on research and clinical validation. While Kumar confirmed the rollout will occur in phases, he did not provide a specific timeline for full availability.
The United Arab Emirates is already one of Ultrahuman’s top ten markets, contributing roughly 4% to 5% of total revenue. The company has operated in the region for nearly five years and reports retention rates that are approximately 25% higher than in other markets. Deploying the model nationally will expose the algorithm to a wider demographic, contrasting with Ultrahuman’s current user base, which skews between the ages of 25 and 43.
Kumar noted that the underlying model was originally developed using Ultrahuman’s existing global data, correlating chronological age with wearable signals and blood-test markers from select users. However, he stressed that the UAE-specific deployment will utilize local data without the company accessing personally identifiable information.
The move comes as competition intensifies in the smart-ring sector. In May, the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi announced a partnership with Oura, Ultrahuman’s primary rival, to integrate wearable data with the emirate’s longitudinal health records, initially focusing on women’s health and cardiometabolic risk.
While acknowledging that the government works with multiple health-tech firms, Kumar stated that Ultrahuman is unaware of any other company collaborating on a health-age model specifically. The partnership also coincides with Ultrahuman’s broader efforts to transform its hardware into an autonomous computing device capable of running AI interactions and games, supported by a recent $70 million investment from Qualcomm.
Oura already has a deal in Abu Dhabi. Seems like Ultrahuman is scrambling to stay relevant in the Middle Eastern market.
Interesting pivot to data over hardware. Hope they prioritize privacy since the government will see this aggregated wellness data.