Spotify co-founder and CEO Daniel Ek has apparently been on a side quest building a health startup that offers full-body scans in Europe. Now, the company is planning to expand across the United States.
Neko Health announced Wednesday that it raised $700 million in a new funding round as it prepares to open clinics in New York City and other U.S. cities later this year.
“With this round, we’re taking that mission to the U.S. for the first time, while continuing to invest in the research and technology that make prevention possible at scale,” Neko Health co-founder and CEO Hjalmar Nilsonne said in a press release.
The latest funding round attracted a group of notable investors like Maria Sharapova, Will.i.am, Mark Zuckerberg, and his wife, Priscilla Chan. They join actress Zoë Saldaña and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, who were already investors in the company.
The company is part of a broader wave of Silicon Valley and Hollywood interest in preventive health and longevity.
Last year, Function Health, a startup that offers members access to more than 160 lab tests and other health screenings, raised $298 million. Its investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Magic Johnson, Matt Damon, and Zac Efron.
Even Midjourney, the generative AI company, announced last month that it is working on its own underwater, ultrasound body scanner.
Neko, however, has been slightly ahead of the trend.
Ek and Nilsonne founded the company in 2018 and began quietly developing its technology years before opening its first clinic in 2023. It now operates eight locations across Sweden and the United Kingdom.
Its main offering is the hour-long Neko Health Scan, which consists of several different medical tests. The most futuristic-looking part is a pod-like machine, known as the Neko Derma device, that patients step into. The pod captures thousands of high-resolution images of a patient’s skin and uses AI to look for signs of skin cancer and take measurements of their body composition.
The appointment also includes a blood draw and more traditional tests like an ECG and blood pressure measurements. Neko says the goal is to spot early warning signs of conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and skin cancer.
The company says test results are processed within minutes on-site. A clinician then reviews the findings with patients, providing an action plan and recommendations for follow-ups or specialist referrals when necessary.
According to Neko, more than 350,000 people have registered for a scan or joined one of its waitlists, while more than 100,000 customers in Sweden and the U.K. have already completed one.
U.S. pricing has not been announced; however, the scans currently cost £299 ($400) in the U.K. and 2,750 Swedish kronor ($285) in Sweden.
For anyone curious, the New York City waitlist is already open.
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