Health Pitch 02: Neko Health 🚀

🚀 The Startup: Neko Health

Neko Health recently launched in London, making it a top contender on my list to explore. They are a health tech startup offering AI-powered full-body scans designed to detect early signs of disease and enhance preventive healthcare.

Their mission is to make early detection accessible, affordable, and efficient for everyone and with preventive health remaining an overlooked gap in most healthcare systems worldwide, I believe it’s a much needed innovator in this space.

💰 Funding: As of Jan 2025, Neko Health raised over £250m in funding from Lakestar & Lightspeed Venture Partners (Impressive, but I’m also thinking should we really be calling these startups anymore!?!)

🌍 Market: Preventative Healthcare and Diagnostics Industry

💡 USP: Their non-invasive, AI-supported “health scan” that provides a full health check up

👶 Founders: It’s worth noting that Neko Health is being brought to life by the Founder of Spotify, Daniel Ek. Does it mean it’s a guaranteed success? No, but it certainly has it’s benefits

📈 The Market

Since Neko Health has global ambitions, I’ll zoom out and look at the bigger picture.

The global preventive healthcare market, which focuses on stopping diseases in their tracks is worth around $260 billion annually. That’s a lot of money being spent to avoid getting sick.

But “preventive healthcare” is a broad, catch-all term. To figure out exactly where Neko Health fits, we need to break down the market:

1️⃣ Early Detection & Screening: This is where Neko Health plays. It includes diagnostic imaging, preventive blood tests, and genetic testing, making up about 40% of the global market (~$104 billion).

2️⃣ Proactive Lifestyle Management – Think wearables, remote monitoring, and mobile health apps that keep people healthy in the first place. This segment is worth around $60 billion, and while Neko Health complements it, they’re not exactly in the business of tracking your steps or reminding you to drink water.

3️⃣ Mental Health Management & Counseling – A huge and growing market, helping people tackle stress, anxiety, and overall mental well-being before things spiral. While it’s often treated as a separate category, it’s a big part of preventive health. Neko Health doesn’t really operate here, but mental health is becoming an increasingly important piece of overall health management.

4️⃣ Vaccines – The OG of preventive healthcare. While this is mostly a biotech play, it’s still worth mentioning. Neko Health doesn’t touch this space, but I believe it’s one of the most effective ways to prevent disease.

Overall, the market is expected to grow at ~12% CAGR. Which doesn’t feel that fast, but with rising healthcare costs as a disease progresses, the demand for early disease detection, proactive health management and prevention is at it’s highest ever. And more and more health systems are pushing people to adopt preventative measures.

If we go deeper into the “Early Detection & Screening” segment it’s hard to pin point exactly who the competitors of Neko Health might be.

During an hour appointment with Neko Health they conduct multiple tests including a cutting edge non-invasive scan (which I haven’t seen being done anywhere else), an invasive blood test (which is common), an ECG (which is very common) as well as a doctors consultation (which is very, very common), all with a preventative hat on.

I would assume a direct competitor would do all the same things as Neko Health. But if we generalise a “Preventative Check-up”, then we come across a very crowded field. I’ll group them into 1) “Comprehensive Preventative Check-ups” & 2) “Single Track Preventative Check-ups”:

1. Comprehensive Check-ups: These are check-ups with multiple tests

• Zoi is probably the closest competitor to Neko Health. They offer 35 preventative checks ranging from blood tests to scans and 360 Clinical Exams. But it’s significantly pricier and targeted for a wealthier demographic

• Q-Bio is accepting a waitlist for a “Gemini Scan” which includes a similar repertoire of tests as Neko Health

• At it’s core, large healthcare providers like Bluecrest Wellness, Bupa, Randox Health (and many others) also offer comprehensive check-ups. But they do it in a slightly less “futuristic” way

• Also bear in mind, in the UK, the NHS offers a FREE health check for every person over 40 which includes an examination and blood test (so, minus the “scan”)

2. One Track Check-ups: These are check-ups with primarily one key test

• Thriva have a preventative focus, but aim to draw conclusions through their at-home blood testing

• Scan.com offers preventative health checks with a private scan (MRI, US or CT) at the center of it

Overall, preventative healthcare is a huge market globally and attracts a very particular type of customer (which I’ll discuss later). Neko Health are in a track of their own with their AI-Powered, non-invasive body scan. But there’s plenty of choice for people looking for a general preventative check.

🔥 The Problem

Traditional healthcare is reactive.

All global healthcare systems wait for you to get sick before stepping in.

It is an unfair judgement of healthcare, considering we have public health campaigns, and screening programmes. But most of us don’t care about healthcare unless we are sick.

By that point however, treatment is more expensive, more complicated, and way more stressful. Wouldn’t it be better to catch health issues before they become a crisis?

The short answer is: Yes, but not everyone thinks that way

1. A lot people don’t care about preventing disease. “I mean I’m already well, so why should I see a doctor?”

2. But let’s say you do care about your health and you want a preventative check-up:

   1. Some countries have national screening programmes, which offer a preventative health check for FREE. But accessing them requires being over a certain age and sometimes these can be inconvenient to access (i.e. you can’t just “pop in")

   2. If you don’t have a national screening programme, then typically you’ll need to access private preventive check-ups. But these can be confusing for people to access (I mean, which check-up is actually the best?). And once you’ve found one they can be too expensive

Private (i.e. paid for) preventative health check-ups are usually accessed by a particular type of customer: The Health Optimisers and Biohackers - i.e. the people in the green section in the graph below:

Why? Because they care the most about their health. And they care enough to seek out help even when they are already well.

The majority in the Big Middle would rather ignore it or wait until they get really unwell.

But the need for fast, affordable preventive health still exists. And even engaging the “Health Optimisers” and “Biohackers” (i.e. the green section) in preventative health can save healthcare systems a lot of money.

💡 The Solution

Even I admit I had no idea what type of “Body Scan” Neko Health were flogging at first glance. But it definitely looks:

1. Cutting edge - “AI-powered”

2. Convenient - Book online for a slot that works for you

3. Empowering - Everything honestly feels like a spa day as opposed to a checkup…

4. Comprehensive - Covering a wide variety of systems from skin to metabolic health

5. Relatively affordable - Priced at £300 for an hour consultation

There are various elements of this scan:

1) A unique non-invasive scan

This scan is not a CT/MRI scan which are sometimes, extreme overkill in preventative health (enter Kim Kardashian’s Prenuvo). Neko Health offers a scan that combines High Resolution Imaging and Sensors to create a 360 image of the body, which is then analysed by an AI Software to spin out health insights. I’m immediately jumping to a highly technical “airport scanner” as a comparison.

The High Resolution Imaging will take thousands of images of your body, with different things being amplified by different scans. For example:

• 3D Body Scanning and Lasers to map skin surfaces, assess skin abnormalities, and issues with body composition and metabolism.

• Thermal imaging and Infrared Light to detect heat patterns and blood vessel health and circulation

• Ultrasound scans detecting issues with internal organs such as your liver and kidney

All these results (plus findings on other tests below) can then be processed by AI for added insights

Other tests included in the Neko Scan are:

2) Blood tests - checking for metabolic status, glucose, immune system and liver function

3) A series of general tests performed by nurses/healthcare assistants - including blood pressure, ECG, Oxygen Saturation, Breathing, Height & Weight measurement

4) A doctors consultation which includes a full body examination checking your heart, skin, eyes and more, as well as interpreting any results

Now test 2 to 4 aren’t exactly new and are pretty standard. The full body scan using imaging and sensors isn’t new either. But the “AI” analysis of those images is definitely new.

Also the entire experience with Neko health is non-invasive, super quick, and futuristic, making preventive healthcare a lot more smarter and fun. By focusing on affordability and convenience, they may also actually capture more of “The Big Middle” who have been avoiding health checks for a long time (that includes me!)

💰 Business Model

Neko Health operates on a direct-to-consumer (DTC) model. Each scan is priced at 2,750 SEK / £299 and includes the whole works mentioned above as well as the consultation with a doctor to discuss the results.

Now the company conducts these scans primarily through their own clinics in London & Stockholm.

It’s definitely early days, so I’m surprised to hear that they have completed over 10,000 scans so far. Quick maths on that, and it means they have generated just under £3m in revenue.

So why were they valued at $1.7 billion in January 2025?

Neko Health claims to have over 100,000 people on their “waiting list” ready to take a scan!

Now I don’t know how robust they think their waiting list is, but assuming a punchy 30% of their waiting list converting means there is potential immediate revenue opportunity of ~£9m (100,000 × 30% x £299). This makes the startup still massively overvalued.

Another interesting insight is that apparently 80% have already booked and pre-paid for their scans next year. That 1st year retention rate is great considering most DTC health brands (that have a recurring revenue model) are around the 20-30% mark.

Neko Health are looking to turn their preventative checks into a “yearly commitment”; I’m sure there will be a subscription coming soon.

My only concern with this price is profitability. And I have a strong suspicion they aren’t thinking about that right now. Here’s what I mean, with my totally made up unit economics:

At first glance, £299 per scan might seem like a healthy revenue stream, but the real question is: how much does it cost to deliver each scan? Here’s a rough breakdown of the likely cost structure per session:

1️⃣ Medical Staff Costs

• Doctor consultation: £50 - £80 (assuming each patient spends around 20-30 minutes with a doctor).

• Medical assistants/nurses: £30 - £50 (handling pre-scan prep, patient guidance, and post-scan summaries).

2️⃣ Equipment & Technology Costs

• Scan equipment depreciation & maintenance: £40 - £60 (cutting-edge AI-powered imaging tech isn’t cheap, and regular maintenance could be required).

• Software & AI processing: £15 - £25 (real-time image processing, cloud storage, and AI-driven diagnostics).

3️⃣ Operational & Facility Costs

• Rent & clinic overheads: £20 - £40 (prime city-center locations drive foot traffic but aren’t cheap).

• Utilities & admin costs: £10 - £20 (electricity, IT infrastructure, front desk, and support staff).

4️⃣ Marketing & Customer Acquisition

• Advertising & outreach: £30 - £50 (customer education, ads, referral programs, and PR efforts to keep demand high).

5️⃣ Miscellaneous Expenses

• Insurance, compliance, medical supplies: £10 - £20 (ensuring a safe and regulated healthcare environment).

My Total Estimated Cost Per Scan can range from: £205 - £345

• Lower bound estimate: £205 per scan.

• Upper bound estimate: £345 per scan.

So even with this high level break down, they are either making £94 profit (£299 - £205) or -£46 loss (£299 - £345) I suspect it’s the latter for now.

⚠️ The Challenges:

I always like to go deep into the challenges section. It grounds my thinking. And Neko Health faces immense hurdles across multiple dimensions. Let me break them down:

1. Market Challenges

• Consumer Awareness & Adoption: Preventative health scanning is still a relatively new concept. Many people (“The Big Middle”) don’t actively seek health scans unless prompted by symptoms. Convincing the public to make routine body scans a habit could take time and extensive marketing efforts.

• Trust & Medical Credibility: Healthcare is a high-trust industry. Patients, doctors, and regulators may be skeptical of an AI-powered scanning system, particularly if it's perceived as a “Silicon Valley” disruptor rather than a medical-grade solution.

• Scalability Across Regions: What works in Sweden may not translate seamlessly into other healthcare systems. For example, countries with strong public healthcare systems (e.g., the UK’s NHS) may be slower to adopt private, out-of-pocket health screening services.

2. Business Model Challenges

• Customer Retention & Frequency: While the £299 price point is attractive, will people regularly come back for scans? Neko says so, but I feel the allusiveness will wear off. Unlike subscription-based models, Neko will need to rely on repeat customers, meaning they need a compelling reason for users to scan annually or semi-annually.

• Profitability of Clinics: Neko runs physical scanning centers, meaning real estate, staffing, and operational costs are high. Scaling these centers internationally requires careful cost management to avoid losses while expanding. I’m still debating whether this £299 is profitable at a unit economics level.

3. Competitive Threats

• Emerging Startups: Companies like Prenuvo (full-body MRI scans) and Ezra (AI-powered cancer screening) are gaining traction. How will Neko differentiate itself long-term?

• Incumbents Adapting: Traditional private hospitals and diagnostic chains could easily replicate the model with their existing infrastructure, making it harder for Neko to maintain its edge.

4. Regulatory & Compliance Risks

• Medical Certification & Approvals: Neko's scanning technology likely needs to comply with strict medical regulations in each country. The FDA (U.S.) and MHRA (UK) have stringent processes that could delay expansion.

• Data Privacy & AI Regulations: With AI playing a key role in diagnostics, GDPR (EU) and HIPAA (U.S.) compliance will be critical. Any data security issues could severely damage Neko's reputation and growth prospects.

5. Operational Challenges

• Scaling Trained Staff: Each scan includes a doctor consultation, meaning Neko needs medical professionals at scale. Hiring and training physicians across multiple markets is always a major bottleneck.

• Technological Risks: If Neko’s AI misidentifies issues (false positives or negatives), trust erodes quickly. They need robust accuracy validation to maintain credibility.

• Dealing with issues identified: One of the biggest structural weaknesses in private preventative healthcare is what happens after a red flag is raised. This issue isn’t unique to Neko Health and many private diagnostic services face the same problem: detection without an immediate solution. Here’s how it typically plays out:

  1. A customer undergoes a Neko scan.

  2. The AI and doctors identify a potential health concern (e.g., a skin lesion, irregular heart rhythm, or metabolic abnormality).

  3. The customer is told to seek further medical evaluation, often through their GP or a specialist in the public healthcare system (or their existing Family Doctors in a private healthcare system)

  4. The problem? Public healthcare/existing teams often repeat the tests anyway due to regulatory requirements and liability concerns. So unless we can provide a truly integrated experience then, it’s unlikely to receive much support from the wider medical community

✅ My Final Take:

Neko Health is tackling a interesting problem with cutting-edge technology. The market is definitely massive, the tech advantage is clear, a super hero founder and good early traction exists.

But I sometimes think, preventative healthcare startups face immense scrutiny from the medical community, and Neko won’t be alone in this. There will be a constant uphill battle with regulatory risks, building consumer trust, and the usual high CAC.

I also don’t believe the opportunity will be that big in the UK. This feels more appropriate for Sweden or the US.

Could this be another Babylon? Probably, so I’d rather watch from the side lines.