Neko Health opens its first US clinic in New York as global waitlist tops 300,000

Neko Health, the Swedish preventive health company co-founded by Spotify's Daniel Ek and chief executive Hjalmar Nilsonne, has opened its first clinic in the United States, in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan at 300 Lafayette Street. The clinic opened on September 24, 2026, and it is the company's ninth operating location worldwide, joining six clinics in the United Kingdom (four in London, one in Birmingham and one in Manchester) and two in Stockholm.

The New York scan is listed at $499 for a visit that takes about an hour. According to the company, roughly 30 minutes are spent gathering health data and roughly 30 minutes are spent with a clinician interpreting the results, which are available during the same visit. The assessment is radiation free and combines high resolution visual and thermal imaging with cardiovascular and circulation testing, body composition measurement and on-site blood analysis covering more than 50 biomarkers.

The opening caps a fast run of fundraising. Neko raised a $700 million Series C in July 2026 led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and O.G. Venture Partners, after a $260 million Series B in January 2025. Total funding now stands at nearly $1 billion, and the Financial Times reported that the Series C valued the company at roughly $7 billion, a figure Neko did not confirm.

The company says more than 100,000 people have had its scans in Sweden and the UK, and that its global waitlist now tops 300,000 people. In New York, more than 25,000 people joined the waiting list before the clinic opened, a sign of how much demand the company is trying to convert into appointments.

Key Facts

TechCrunch reported on October 3, 2026 that Neko Health had arrived in New York with nearly $1 billion raised in total and a global waitlist topping 300,000 people. The report described the scan as screening for issues in the blood, skin and metabolism, and noted that the company is eyeing an expansion across the United States after landing in New York.

FitTech Global reported on September 24, 2026 that the clinic at 300 Lafayette Street opened with more than 25,000 New Yorkers on the waitlist, and that the $499 New York price is 26 per cent higher than the UK price. The same report said Neko has delivered more than 100,000 scans in Sweden and the UK, and that New York is the company's ninth operating location.

TechCrunch reported on July 15, 2026 that the $700 million Series C was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and O.G. Venture Partners, with additional investors including Atomico, General Catalyst, Lakestar, Liberty City Ventures, Positive Sum and BDT & MSD. RuntimeWire reported on September 24, 2026 that the round also drew participation from Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan.

Details of the visit are specific. RuntimeWire reported on September 24, 2026 that the one-hour scan is listed at $499 in New York and that customers can use health savings and flexible spending account funds. TechCrunch reported on October 3, 2026 that the scan is not covered by insurance but should qualify as an acceptable expense for those with Health Savings Accounts, and it put the price at $500 in its own description of the service.

Not everything is settled. RuntimeWire reported on September 24, 2026 that Neko says it designed its own hardware, software and systems, although its published U.S. scan facts show the clinic also uses third-party medical devices and testing equipment. The same report noted that Neko's European member data report had no control group and no randomized controlled trial, and that its U.S. terms leave follow-up care to patients' own clinicians.

Two other details help frame the company. Ek became Spotify's executive chairman on January 1, 2026, after stepping down as chief executive. Calm founder Alex Tew posted on X that a Neko scan found a malignant mole on his back, which he promptly had removed.

Analysis

The bigger picture here is that Neko Health is running an unusual experiment: whether a consumer-priced, one-hour health assessment can build a durable business in a country where preventive care utilization is low and cost is a persistent worry. Farooq Abbasi of Preface Ventures, an investor in the company, told TechCrunch that he hopes Neko can be the future of preventative medicine, especially in the United States, and he pointed to exactly those two obstacles.

The pricing tells part of the story. At $499, the New York scan is 26 per cent more expensive than the equivalent service in the UK, and it is not covered by insurance, though it should qualify as an acceptable expense for Health Savings Accounts and can be paid with health savings or flexible spending account funds. What this really means is that Neko is selling a discretionary purchase, not a covered medical service, which puts it closer to a premium consumer product than to a standard clinical pathway. That is a deliberate bet on a segment of American consumers willing to pay out of pocket for a detailed baseline of their own biology.

The demand numbers matter more than the price. Neko says it has delivered more than 100,000 scans in Sweden and the UK, and TechCrunch reported on July 15, 2026 that more than 350,000 people had either registered for the waitlist or set an appointment, while its October 3 report put the global waitlist above 300,000. Those counts measure slightly different things and move over time, but the pattern is consistent: interest has run ahead of capacity, which is why the New York waiting list of more than 25,000 people was a launch asset rather than a marketing claim.

The evidence question is harder to answer. Neko's scan couples high resolution imaging, thermal imaging, cardiovascular and circulation testing, body composition measurement and blood analysis covering more than 50 biomarkers, and the company says results are ready during the same visit. Abbasi told TechCrunch that the blood panel has grown substantially, from 15 biomarkers in an earlier generation to 55 in his most recent scan. But RuntimeWire noted that Neko's European member data report had no control group and no randomized controlled trial, and that U.S. terms leave follow-up care to patients' own clinicians. A finding is not the same as a proven outcome, and the company will have to live with that distinction as it scales.

Why It Matters

For American consumers, the arrival of Neko matters because it puts a tangible price and a tangible waiting list behind a debate that has mostly been abstract. Preventive screening in the United States is often described as underused, and the company's own investors argue that cost is a major reason. A $499 out-of-pocket scan that delivers results in an hour does not solve that structural problem, but it does test whether a slice of the market will pay to route around it.

For the wider preventive health sector, the New York clinic is a test of whether a vertically integrated model can travel. Neko designs its own hardware, software and systems, according to RuntimeWire, but it also relies on third-party medical devices and testing equipment, and it operates under U.S. terms that push follow-up care back to a patient's own doctor. If the model works, it becomes a template, and if it stalls, the obstacles are likely to be familiar ones, namely conversion, regulation and clinical validation.

There is also a quieter implication. The anecdote about Alex Tew, the Calm founder whose Neko scan found a malignant mole that he then had removed, is the kind of story that sells scans. It is also the kind of story that raises expectations about what a one-hour assessment can promise. The gap between those two things is where the company's reputation will be built or damaged.

Next Up

Neko says additional New York clinics and a Miami location are expected, with Washington, D.C. and San Francisco also planned. Scaling in the United States will require more than real estate: regulatory approval, clinician hiring and reliable follow-up pathways are all still works in progress, and the company's expansion plans are the clearest signal that it intends to answer those questions in public.

The next data point to watch is conversion. With a global waitlist above 300,000 and more than 25,000 New Yorkers who registered before opening day, Neko has demonstrated that people will raise their hands. Turning those hands into repeat customers, at $499 a visit and without insurance coverage, is the harder and more revealing test.