Scanning the Future: Neko Health’s $700 Million Bet on Preventive Care

In a medical system often criticised for treating sickness rather than stopping it, one company is turning heads and bodies toward a new model of care. Neko Health, founded by Spotify’s Daniel Ek and Hjalmar Nilsonne, has raised a $700 million Series C round to expand its advanced body-scanning technology across the United States and beyond. Backed by leading investors and driven by a mission to make preventive medicine routine, the Swedish startup has already scanned more than 100,000 people, with over 350,000 registered or waiting for appointments. Its first U.S. clinic in New York marks the beginning of what supporters hope will be a fundamental shift in how we monitor, understand, and protect our health.

What a Scan Delivers

A Neko Health appointment unfolds in roughly one hour, combining proprietary body-scanning technology with blood analysis and health data integration. The platform evaluates skin, metabolism, and biomarkers, now measuring 55 distinct indicators, up from just 15 in earlier versions. It can integrate with Apple Health, giving clinicians a richer, real-world picture of a user’s daily activity and trends. For fitness-focused users, the scan also provides detailed body composition breakdowns. Most notably, the system uses advanced computer vision to detect visual anomalies, including one case where it identified a malignant mole on the back of Calm founder Alex Tew, who credited the scan with catching it early enough to remove it successfully. “I’m not sure how I would have otherwise,” he shared.

From Stockholm to New York and Beyond

Born in Sweden, Neko Health initially launched in the U.K. and Scandinavia. The New York clinic represents its first major U.S. foothold, with further expansion across American cities already in the planning stages. The $700 million round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and O.G. Venture Partners, and joined by Atomico, General Catalyst, Lakestar, and others, builds on a $260 million Series B secured in January 2025, underscoring the confidence investors place in its growth and impact.

For Farooq Abbasi, partner at Preface Ventures and an early backer, the mission is personal as well as professional. He has undergone the scan twice and believes it should be everywhere. “Preventative care and healthcare should be cheap and accessible,” he told TechCrunch. At present, a full scan costs $500, an amount structured to be eligible for Health Savings Account (HSA) coverage, making it accessible to many but not all. Abbasi sees this as a starting point, not a finish line: as volume increases and technology advances, the goal is to bring costs down and reach broader communities.

AI, Actionable Insights, and Real Change

What sets Neko apart from typical wellness screenings is its focus on actionable results. The computer vision systems do not merely flag concerns; they provide context, comparisons, and guidance on next steps whether that means lifestyle adjustments, further testing, or medical consultation. Abbasi frames this as the real promise of AI in healthcare: not replacing doctors, but amplifying what they can see and do. “It isn’t just another wellness fad,” he emphasised. “It gives people insights to make their lives better.”

The road ahead includes clear challenges: scaling clinic operations, navigating U.S. regulatory pathways, and refining the technology to serve diverse populations. Yet Abbasi remains optimistic, arguing that with continued investment and focus, even the most entrenched parts of the system can be improved. “Nothing is too broken to fix,” he said.

A New Standard of Care

Neko Health is not alone in this space. Midjourney has announced plans to open a wellness facility with body-scanning integration in San Francisco in 2027, but it is currently the most advanced and widely deployed. Where others are conceptual, Neko is operational, growing, and saving lives.

For the hundreds of thousands on its waitlist, the message is simple: the future of health is not waiting until something goes wrong. It is seeing it before it does. And as Neko expands, that future is moving closer to everyone.