Spotify founder and CEO Daniel Ek's healthcare startup has received a strong vote of confidence from investors. Earlier today, Neko Health announced that it raised 60 million euros in an investment led by Lakestar and backed by Atomco and General Catalyst. The money will be used to expand the concept outside of the company's Sweden, where it currently operates a private research hospital. Neko Health, named after the Japanese word for cat, was founded in 2018 by Ek and Hjalmar Nilsonne. After much secrecy, its first clinic opened in February of this year in Stockholm. Within two hours, it was full with 5,000 people placed on the waiting list. In hospitals, people get 3D body scans in a small booth that won't look like a Star Trek episode, which has a lot of sensors and is powered by, you guessed it, intelligence. In particular, the algorithm can immediately determine the condition of the skin and the risk of heart disease. Patients (are they still called in prevention?) are also examined by laser and ECG, which takes about 10 to 20 minutes.
The bone itself may not meet them after the examination, but it is examined and explained by a good human doctor. The price for the Neko Health test is €250 and the company has carried out more than 1,000 tests since its inception. Almost 80% of customers will have to pay for the inspection after one year. AI certainly has great potential for disease prevention and early detection, but only if the results can be interpreted. It is not clear to what extent the doctors of Neko Health have an idea of how the algorithm makes its predictions (such as what causes heart disease and heart disease so that the patient/client can be properly identified for the following procedures). Goals and aspirations One of the supporters of the company is Skype co-founder and Atomco founder Niklas Zennström, who will sit on the board. He sees great potential in this man's new creation that has truly changed the way we consume music.
“I’ve spent more than 10 years exploring the untapped potential of healthcare innovation,” Ek said in a statement. “We are dedicated to building a healthcare system that focuses on prevention and patient care, aiming to serve not just our generation, but those that follow.” “We have our own nurses, doctors and specialists,” Nilsonne told Bloomberg. “We have dermatologists employed just to review the skin images. There is a doctor on site who can make qualified medical judgments for anything that comes up.” “Neko Health is exactly the type of mission that gets us excited at Atomico. It’s that rare combination of a firm with a purpose and outsized ambition, and founders with a world-class track record,” Zennström said. “They’re solving a problem we can all relate to, with the potential to fundamentally transform global healthcare forever.”
