Stockholm startup. Neko health It made a big bet for consumers who want to know about their health status and how to prevent mistakes. Now, Investors are betting big on Neko.
The startup has raised $260 million in new funding, TechCrunch learned exclusively from Neko in a $1.8 billion Series B round.
Neko will use the capital to enter new markets like the US. Continue its diagnoses made possible by purchases. To open more clinics as needed. Over 100,000 people in the past few months – Neko has scanned and evaluated 10,000 patients to date in clinics in Stockholm. A new market London.
“It's very clear that there is an incredible need for a different way of thinking about healthcare,” CEO and co-founder Hjalmar Nilsonne said in an interview. He spoke to TechCrunch via video link from New York, where he is laying the groundwork for opening clinics in the US market.
America is a priority; Because it's now on a waiting list for most people outside of Europe. “Of course, We want to come to America, I think this round of funding can contribute a lot to the ecosystem in this country as much as it can,” he added.
New investors in the company include Lightspeed Venture Partners, General Catalyst; OG Venture Partners; Rosello, Leading this Series B with Lakestar and Atomico. The circle follows a. Series A Lakestar, co-founded by Spotify's Daniel Ek; Atomico, $65 million in 2023 from General Catalyst and Prima Materia Investment firm Neko Prima Materia seeded Neko with its initial funding, but was not an investor this past week.
The funding and Neko's growth come at a time of changing demands in the healthcare world.
Worldwide, health care systems are either state-backed or privatized. There is a growing focus on preventive health care to detect symptoms before problems develop. .
In addition, There has also been a massive infusion of technology into the world of medicine and health: for example, new machines, New insights and applications are changing how doctors interact with patients. They are changing diagnostic capabilities. What patients are looking for in the clinical environment.
Not all. A seamless evolution of these developments. far away — but they show little sign of going away, and Neko is involved in all of these changes.
The Neko Health experience includes a clinic visit— peace futuristic Simple – For £300 the customer gets a one-hour exam based on proprietary hardware and software. That test generates millions of health data points, Neko said.
Moles and other marks on your skin are detected and counted as part of a skin cancer screening. waist circumference blood pressure blood sugar cholesterol and triglyceride levels; heart rate Measure grip and other parameters and you may have metabolic syndrome. stroke heart attack It is used to determine the risk of diabetes and other conditions. The visit includes a consultation with the doctor and recommendations for follow-up if necessary.
These follow-ups may happen shortly after the initial visit — for example, More monitoring of blood pressure or heart activity — or it could be another full appointment next year. Nilsonne says that 80% of his clients currently book and pre-pay for appointments within a year.
Neko had a relatively random start in life, considering it's a company that stakes its entire ethos on the power of data and proactive planning.
It was re-established in 2018 after Ek reached out to Nilsonne on Twitter to talk about the state of the healthcare market in response to Nilsonne's tweet. There was no background in the field – Nilsson's previous startup was in climate technology – but early ideas for Neko began to emerge through ongoing conversations.
It took six years to assemble a team and implement Neko's vertically integrated approach. However, Nilsonne said Neko went into the market hoping for the best, but not sure their idea would be replicated. Now, according to the company, demand is outstripping capacity.
Along with building clinics to accommodate more customers, Neko is focusing R&D around its medical hardware and software.
It starts from a very low technology base due to the costs of building and owning recent medical devices. “The average ECG machine in primary care is 15 years old, which means the software is 15 years old,” Nilsonne said. “We have a completely different model that is vertically integrated, which means we make these devices, we make the software, and we have the clinic.”
Neko's goal is to get updates on an annual cadence, bringing more parameters to scale and potentially offering tiers at different price points.
“Today's body scan was an iPod moment for Neko,” he said. “The iPod is an iconic product that people love and it's exciting. But nobody uses an iPod these days. This allowed Apple to invest in incredible handheld computing devices. So we see this as the beginning of a journey that we're trying to support; Incredibly affordable; You know high-quality preventive diagnostics; Every year we can do more and more with less. “
The funding round will “allow us to double down and redouble our investments in improving the product, which is about solving some of the key problems in end-to-end healthcare.”
It would also give him the opportunity to put more space between himself and others looking at preventive health care opportunities like Neko. Zo and France Be careful. In Germany. The city can keep it out of efforts like public health services. Health check. It covers many of the same areas as Neko, which is supported by the NHS in the UK.
A few weeks ago, Some of the wait-and-sees from one of Neko's early backers are investors who want to check out the company first for their own health. versus their funds.
Getting Lightspeed off the waiting list seems like a fast result. As part of this funding round, Lightspeed partner Bejul Somaia will join Neko's board.