NEW YORK, NY — Neko Health is opening its first U.S. clinic in New York City, introducing a $499, hour-long body scan designed to give patients a detailed look at their health before symptoms appear.
The company says more than 25,000 New Yorkers signed up before the space even opened, showing strong interest in a service built around prevention rather than treatment. The clinic is set to begin seeing patients on Sept. 24 in SoHo.
Neko says the scan does not rely on traditional blood draws or radiation and pairs machine-based measurements with a follow-up review from a clinician. The goal is to help people understand what the data means and what steps, if any, should come next.
SoHo clinic designed as a place patients may want to return to
The new location is at 300 Lafayette Street and spans two floors with seven scan rooms. Neko Health says the design is meant to feel less like a typical doctor’s office and more like a place where preventive care fits naturally into a person’s routine.
That approach reflects a broader challenge in health care: many people are willing to get checked once, but prevention only works well if they come back. By creating a more inviting setting, the company is betting it can make repeat visits easier and more appealing.
The scan itself is meant to be straightforward. During the visit, the company gathers information on the heart, skin, blood chemistry and metabolic markers, then discusses the results with a person rather than leaving patients to interpret the data on their own.
Backed by big-name investors and a $700 million funding round
Neko Health’s U.S. expansion comes after a $700 million Series C funding round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and co-led by OG Venture Partners. The company’s investor list includes Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan, Maria Sharapova, Tim Ferriss, will.i.am and restaurateur Danny Meyer.
That level of support has helped Neko move quickly from a concept focused on preventive screening to a physical presence in one of the country’s most competitive health care markets. For the company, New York is the first step in a much larger U.S. rollout.
The clinic opening also places Neko in a city with a deep concentration of major hospitals and specialty practices. Even so, the company is aiming at a different kind of health experience, one centered on early detection and a structured conversation about next steps.
The company says prevention is the product, not just the scan
Neko Health co-founder and CEO Hjalmar Nilsonne said the company has spent years asking whether one visit could provide a fuller picture of a person’s health, where it is heading and how a medical professional might help change the outcome.
He said New York was a natural place to bring that idea to the United States because the city’s residents are used to seeking top-tier options in many parts of life. In Neko’s view, health care should meet that same standard.
The company is also making a larger argument about aging and disease prevention. It says many serious conditions build quietly over time, so the value of a scan lies in finding issues early enough that they can still be addressed.
Early response suggests demand for preventive screening is growing
Neko says more than 350,000 people worldwide have joined its waitlist or booked a scan, and more than 100,000 in the United Kingdom and Sweden have already gone through the process. Those figures suggest the model has moved well beyond the experimental stage.
The company also says three out of four people who completed a scan prepaid for another one. That kind of repeat interest matters because the business model depends not only on curiosity, but on patients seeing enough value to come back.
For consumers, the attraction appears to be a fuller snapshot of health in a single visit. Neko’s pitch is that the scan can identify concerns early, before they become more serious and harder to manage.
More New York clinics are planned, followed by other major U.S. cities
New York is only the beginning of Neko Health’s American expansion. The company plans additional locations in New York City, then aims to open in Miami, Washington, D.C. and San Francisco within the next year.
That rollout suggests Neko believes the market for preventive scanning is not limited to one neighborhood or one demographic. Instead, it is positioning itself for a broader audience that may be willing to pay for time, attention and a more detailed look at long-term health.
Whether the model becomes mainstream will depend on how patients respond after the novelty of the first visit fades. For now, the company is entering the U.S. with a strong waiting list, a premium price and a clear bet that preventive care can be made more appealing.
