Technology 4 min read By Callum Montgomery
Neko Health opens first US clinic with $499 AI-powered body scan
Swedish health tech company Neko Health, founded by Spotify's Daniel Ek, has opened its first US clinic in Manhattan, offering a $499 preventive health package that combines AI-driven body scanning with physician-led consultations.
Neko Health, the Swedish health technology company co-founded by Spotify's Daniel Ek, has opened its first US clinic in Manhattan, offering a $499 preventive health check that combines AI-powered body scanning with same-day physician consultations. The move marks the company's expansion beyond Europe and signals growing momentum behind a wave of startups aiming to make high-quality preventive care faster, cheaper and more consumer-friendly.
The package includes a scan that maps skin and body composition alongside heart, blood and metabolic health tests. Results are reviewed by a physician within minutes, with the patient's 3D body image displayed in the consultation room. Hjalmar Nilsonne, Neko Health's chief executive, said the company wants to create an almost magical consumer experience around health care and to democratise high-quality preventive health care, making it available to millions or hundreds of millions of people.
The launch comes at a time of intense debate about the cost and accessibility of health care in the United States. Employers expect a median 9.2% increase in health care costs next year, according to the nonprofit Business Group on Health, and about half plan to pass those costs on to workers. The Trump administration has also announced plans to remove 760,000 Affordable Care Act enrollees from public health care exchanges as part of a fraud crackdown, adding further uncertainty to the system.
Against that backdrop, AI is increasingly being deployed to ease pressure on clinicians. Half of the health care professionals surveyed in the 2026 Philips Future Health Index said AI saves them at least 132 hours annually, allowing them to see more patients and make fewer mistakes. Thousands of AI-powered health care startups have emerged, and the technology is being applied across diagnostics, administration and patient monitoring.
Cost remains the most critical disruption for many Americans. Mark Cuban, speaking at the Digital Health New York Summit, described how his direct-to-patient pharmacy business Cost Plus Drugs is challenging pharmacy benefit managers. Launched in early 2022, the company has expanded into manufacturing, where Cuban says volume has grown enough to lower the price of 190 medications. He said the business is making money, partly thanks to demand generated by TrumpRx, but that profit is not the goal. «My mission is just to fuck up health care,» he said. «Trying to optimize a broken system doesn't really change anything.»
Other companies are pursuing different routes to better health outcomes. Walmart is placing more emphasis on nutrition and has launched a Health Ambassador pilot to improve access. Henry Schein, the world's largest distributor of dental equipment and supplies, is exploring links between oral health and chronic conditions under new chief executive Frederick Lowery. Whole Foods chief executive Jason Buechel, who also oversees Amazon's grocery business, has highlighted investment in organic foods and worker benefits, including raising hourly pay for 100,000 employees to $21 an hour and introducing low-cost health care and apprenticeship programmes.
Neko Health's US debut will test whether American consumers are willing to pay out of pocket for a premium preventive service that sits outside the traditional insurance system. The company's bet is that speed, simplicity and a proactive approach can attract people who find conventional check-ups slow or reactive. Whether that model can scale beyond affluent urban customers remains an open question, but the clinic's opening adds a prominent new entrant to a health care market under pressure to deliver better results at lower cost.
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