Swedish start-up Neko Health brings its sci-fi scanning suite to central London

Comprehensive health scanning is the holy grail of modern medical technology. The idea of assembling a suite of machinery that can map everything from moles to blood-sugar level in a single, swift operation is the kind of thing that health professionals dream of. In practically every case, early diagnosis transforms the outcome, while lifestyle changes and other interventions can also be started far earlier.

That’s the thinking behind Swedish ‘preventative healthcare technology’ provider Neko Health, co-founded in 2018 by Hjalmar Nilsonne and Daniel Ek, the billionaire co-founder and CEO of Spotify and tech investment firm Prima Materia. Neko Health started offering its service in 2023 from premises in Stockholm using a body-scanning process that takes around ten minutes followed by a doctor’s consultation. The service was used by 2,707 people in its first year of operation.

The company now claims to have 20,000 people on the waiting list in Sweden, but expansion was always part of the plan. Next up is this new Neko Health Centre in London’s Marylebone. ‘In the UK, you are required to do an MOT on your car. However, when it comes to your body, you often need to break down before seeing a doctor,’ Nilsonne says. ‘To bend the cost curve of healthcare, we need to shift towards proactive, preventive care.’

Customers will undertake a body scan using 70 sensors to map millions of health data points in under ten minutes, including checks for skin cancers, fat and sugar levels and other risk factors. Of those 2,707 scanned Swedes, the company reports that 78.5 per cent had no health issues. ‘However, 14.1 per cent required medical treatment. Additionally, 1 per cent received potentially life-saving treatment for severe conditions like cardiovascular diseases, severe metabolic diseases, and skin cancer,’ the company says, noting that ‘none of these individuals was aware of their condition prior to their visit’.

After the scan, which takes around an hour to process, an in-depth doctor’s consultation will look at the results to see if there are any recommendations or further action required. Neko also offers an app to store your health data so you can track changes on future visits.

The company’s head of design and brand, Alfredo Aponte, has experience working with cinematic and entertainment clients like LucasFilm, Lego and Disney through his earlier agency work. The designer, Franquibel Lima, previously worked at WeWork and was also a former lead architect at Foster & Partners, including on the Fifth Avenue Apple Store. The new Health Centre has been shaped to convey a sense of calm, quiet confidence. With pastel colours and concealed lighting giving off soft tones, it’s a futuristic yet unthreatening environment that’s part spa, part science fiction med bay. Beam us up.

Neko Body Scan, £299, Neko Health Centre, 9 St Vincent Street, London W1U 4DA

More details at NekoHealth.com