Neko Health Founder and CEO Hjalmar Nilsonne: Scan First, Diagnose, Then Consult
Neko Health founder and CEO Hjalmar Nilsonne explained the scanning process on the Lightspeed program Lightwork. He stated that the first part is diagnosis: mapping the skin, mapping the heart, mapping the arteries, and then drawing blood.
Subsequently, a disease-prevention-oriented doctor interprets all results in person. He mentioned there will be 20 to 25 minutes of uninterrupted time to ensure that the client takes away the most essential health points. Lightspeed is the company's investor, which recently co-led a $700 million Series C round with O.G. Venture Partners.
Neko was founded by Nilsonne and Spotify founder Daniel Ek in 2018, opening its first clinic in Stockholm in 2023, followed by expansion into the UK and plans for its first store in New York. The scanning does not use MRI or X-rays but instead employs self-developed sensors, cameras, and blood analysis, covering moles and skin lesions, metabolic syndrome, stroke and heart attack risks, blood sugar, and blood abnormalities. The price in the UK is approximately £299, and around $300 in Sweden.
The company claims to have scanned over 100,000 people, with a waiting or appointment list exceeding 350,000. In Stockholm, among 4,362 people scanned in 2024, 18.7% required further treatment. The founder of Calm publicly stated that a scan revealed a malignant mole on his back, which was then removed. The device line includes Derma, Spectrum, Echo, and Neko Lens.
In January 2025, the Series B round will be led by Lightspeed with $260 million, valuing the company at approximately $1.8 billion. New faces in the Series C round include Liberty City Ventures, with celebrity investors including the Zuckerbergs. Competing with full-body MRIs from Prenuvo and Ezra, Neko has priced its services at about one-tenth of the cost, trading time and clinic experience for scale.
In market mechanics, the buyer is the consumer willing to pay cash for preventive screening, while the seller is the clinic's capacity and the doctor's consultation time. The driving force is the public system's focus on treatment and the rising demand for longevity consumption. Funding from venture capital is directed towards opening clinics and sensor production, with revenue coming from single scans; benefiting are companies that can convert waiting lists into storefronts, while high-priced MRI chains and insurance processes that only treat after symptoms appear are under pressure.
Source: Public Information
ABAB AI Insight
Nilsonne describes the product in two segments: machine collection and doctor interpretation. This avoids the regulatory minefield of "AI replacing doctors" while turning the 20-minute attention span into a sellable commodity. The logic from Spotify is applied here: first, make the testing a replicable standard, then use clinics to return the data to people. Ek provides the brand and capital, Nilsonne provides the process, and Lightspeed has led two rounds, aiming to replicate the Swedish model in the U.S. out-of-pocket healthcare.
The capital strategy is to first use low-cost scanning to gain volume, then use the Series C to open in New York. The $700 million is not for buying MRI machines but for establishing sensor production lines and scheduling doctors. The motivation is to capture the price gap left by Prenuvo: full-body MRIs cost over $2,000, while Neko can provide a skin lesion map and metabolic risk report for $300. The waiting list itself becomes collateral for the next round of valuation.
Comparable examples include Function Health's acquisition of Ezra for blood and imaging combinations, and Oura making wearables a daily entry point. Neko is positioned in the middle: deeper than wearables, lighter than hospitals. The industry phase is preventive screening moving from celebrity clinics to middle-class annual check-ups, while U.S. insurance still does not cover this, necessitating cash-based clinics.
The structural judgment belongs to technological substitution. What is being replaced is not surgery, but the vague annual health check-up packages. The mechanism is: sensors turn skin and circulation into storable baselines, making future comparisons more valuable than single diagnoses; whoever first owns the baseline data will have repeat customers and referral entry points, with hospitals only receiving patients after abnormalities are flagged.
ABAB News · Cognitive Laws
Preventive healthcare sells 20 uninterrupted minutes
Baseline data is more valuable than single diagnoses
Prices are set within the annual check-up range, and the waiting list will grow on its own