Daniel Ek's Neko Health Raises $700M Ahead of US Launch
Neko Health, the preventive healthcare startup founded by Spotify's Daniel Ek and Hjalmar Nilsonne, announced Wednesday it has closed a $700 million Series C funding round to bankroll its first push into the United States, where it plans to open clinics in New York and other cities this year.
Lightspeed Venture Partners led the round, with O.G. Venture Partners, the fund of billionaire shipping magnate Eyal Ofer, as co-lead. Existing investors Atomico, General Catalyst and Lakestar returned, joined by new backers Liberty City Ventures, Positive Sum, and BDT & MSD. David Ofer of O.G. Venture Partners will join Neko's board, subject to regulatory approval.
The raise is one of the largest ever for a consumer health company and follows a $260 million Series B in January 2025 that valued the Swedish firm at $1.8 billion, according to TechCrunch. Neko did not disclose a new valuation in its announcement.
The investor list reads like a cross-section of tech, sports and entertainment. Bloomberg reported that the round drew billionaires and celebrities including Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan, supermodel Claudia Schiffer, tennis champion Maria Sharapova, soccer great Thierry Henry, record executive Jimmy Iovine, author Tim Ferriss, musician will.i.am, Endeavor's Ari Emanuel and restaurateur Danny Meyer. They join earlier angels such as Alexis Ohanian, Gary Vaynerchuk, Steven Bartlett and Calm founders Alex Tew and Michael Acton-Smith.
A 60-minute scan, results before you leave
Neko's core product is the Neko Health Scan, a 60-minute, non-invasive, radiation-free assessment that pairs proprietary full-body sensors with blood analysis. The scan captures millions of data points covering skin health, including moles and lesions, biomarkers tied to pre-diabetes risk, and risk factors linked to metabolic syndrome, stroke and heart attack. Results are delivered on-site within minutes and walked through in an in-person consultation with a clinician. The scan is priced at 299 pounds in the UK and 2,750 kronor in Sweden.
The company recently added body composition measurement and clinician review of wearables data, including Apple Health integration, giving doctors real-world data between visits. Last month Neko opened a new Stockholm clinic built around its next generation of in-house medical devices, called Derma-2, Echo-2 and Spectrum-2, which capture higher-fidelity signals across skin, heart and circulation. The upgraded hardware will roll out to all clinics over the next few months.
Neko designs its hardware, software and clinic experience entirely in-house. That vertical integration is central to its pitch: owning the full stack lets the company iterate on sensors and software continuously instead of waiting on third-party device makers.
The numbers behind the round
Since opening its first clinic in Stockholm in February 2023, Neko has expanded across Sweden and the UK, with locations in Manchester, Birmingham and four London neighborhoods. More than 100,000 people have taken a scan, and over 350,000 have registered or joined the waitlist. The retention statistic investors cite most: 75 percent of members book and prepay their next annual scan before leaving their first appointment.
Bejul Somaia, the Lightspeed partner who backed the deal, called Neko "one of the most important healthcare companies of our generation."
The company also released early outcomes data. Among returning members who had a severe or life-threatening condition flagged on their first scan, three in four were in good health or had the condition under control by their second visit. Five of seven key biomarkers showed statistically significant improvement between the first and second scans.
Individual stories have amplified the brand. Calm co-founder Alex Tew posted that his scan caught a malignant mole on his back, which he had removed. "I'm grateful to Neko for helping me discover this," he wrote on X, according to TechCrunch.
Why the US, and why now
Neko is entering the American market as healthcare systems on both sides of the Atlantic tilt toward prevention. NHS England's latest planning framework explicitly shifts resources from sickness management to proactive population health, and US employers are increasingly building chronic-disease prevention into benefits strategies. Chronic conditions account for the large majority of American healthcare spending, and catching them early is far cheaper than treating them late.
The company will face competition. Prenuvo has raised heavily for MRI-based full-body scans, and TechCrunch notes that Midjourney, the AI image lab, is building its own body scanner that it plans to fold into a spa concept opening in San Francisco in 2027. Skeptics in the medical community have also long warned that whole-body screening of asymptomatic people can produce false positives and unnecessary follow-up care, a debate Neko will inherit as it scales in a litigious, heavily regulated market.
What it means for founders and operators
For startup operators, the round carries a few clear signals. First, consumer health is absorbing mega-rounds again, but the capital is concentrating in companies with hard technology moats rather than pure software layers on top of existing care. Neko spent years and hundreds of millions building sensors before it had a growth story to sell.
Second, prepaid retention is the metric that moved investors. A 75 percent same-day rebook rate turns a $400 one-time purchase into a recurring revenue stream with negative churn characteristics, the kind of number SaaS investors understand instinctively. Founders in services businesses should note how effectively Neko translated a clinical experience into subscription-style economics.
Third, vertical integration is back in favor. Owning hardware, software and physical clinics is capital-intensive and slow, but it gave Neko control over unit economics and the customer experience that asset-light competitors cannot easily match. That playbook requires patient capital, which is exactly what a celebrity-studded $700 million round provides.
Finally, the founder halo still matters. Ek's track record at Spotify opened doors, but the round closed on operating metrics. The lesson is not that famous founders raise easily; it is that famous founders who pair reputation with retention data raise enormously.
Frequently asked questions
What does Neko Health actually do?
Neko operates clinics offering a 60-minute, non-invasive body scan combined with blood analysis. Proprietary sensors capture millions of data points on skin, heart, circulation and metabolic health, and a doctor reviews the results with the member on-site the same day.
How much did Neko Health raise and from whom?
The company raised a $700 million Series C led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and co-led by O.G. Venture Partners, with participation from Atomico, General Catalyst, Lakestar, Liberty City Ventures, Positive Sum, BDT & MSD and a long list of individual investors including Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan.
When will Neko Health open in the United States?
Neko says its first US clinic will open in New York later this year, with additional American cities to follow. People can join the waitlist for first access to the New York location.
How much does a Neko Health scan cost?
The scan is priced at 299 pounds in the UK and 2,750 kronor in Sweden, roughly 400 dollars. US pricing has not been announced. About 75 percent of members prepay for the following year's scan before leaving their first appointment.
Who founded Neko Health?
Neko Health was founded in 2018 by Spotify founder Daniel Ek and CEO Hjalmar Nilsonne. The company opened its first clinic in Stockholm in February 2023 and now operates across Sweden and the UK.