The Future Of The Annual Checkup Is Here

For years, wellness has largely focused on what we can see: the latest fitness trackers, sleep scores, workout routines and carefully calibrated morning rituals. But what about everything happening beneath the surface? That’s the question behind Neko Health[1], a health technology company founded by Spotif[2]y co-founder Daniel Ek[3] and entrepreneur Hjalmar Nilsonne[4], which is taking a decidedly different approach to preventive care. Its premise is straightforward: understanding your health shouldn’t begin only when something goes wrong.

Launched in Stockholm in 2023, Neko Health has expanded across the U.K. with clinics in London, Manchester and Birmingham. On September 24, the company opened its first U.S. location in New York City’s SoHo neighborhood, with additional locations planned for New York, Miami, Washington, D.C. and San Francisco. At the center of the experience is the Neko Health Scan, a comprehensive, one-hour assessment that brings together proprietary imaging technology, biometric measurements, blood analysis and time with a trained clinician. The goal is to offer a broader understanding of the body, with particular attention to early markers of skin cancer, cardiovascular disease and metabolic conditions—many of which can develop long before symptoms become apparent.

The Neko Health Scan

The appointment begins with non-invasive, radiation-free skin and body imaging, including mole mapping and body composition insights. Heart and circulation measurements follow, including blood pressure, an EKG and a cardiac assessment. There’s also a blood analysis covering more than 50 clinically selected biomarkers, with results available during the same visit. Additional measurements include grip strength and intraocular pressure. One particularly interesting addition to Neko’s next generation of technology is its ability to measure visceral fat and overall body fat percentage without X-ray radiation. Visceral fat, which is stored around the organs, is associated with metabolic conditions including insulin resistance and fatty liver disease. Unlike the number on a bathroom scale or a traditional BMI calculation, it offers another layer of information about metabolic health.

The technology is impressive, but the human component is equally important. Once the scan is complete, members sit down with a Neko clinician to review their results, ask questions and discuss practical next steps. The experience is designed to feel personal rather than clinical, translating a considerable amount of health data into information that people can actually use. The entire appointment costs $499. Neko also has an app that connects with Apple Health, allowing members to incorporate everyday wellness data, including steps, sleep and heart rate variability, into their health profile. On subsequent visits, clinicians can compare results over time and look beyond individual measurements to better understand changes in overall health.

And repeat visits appear to be an important part of the model. According to the company’s data from more than 80,000 individuals, members who completed at least two scans showed improvements across all seven tracked cardiometabolic biomarkers between their first and second visits. Among members who reported smoking at their initial scan, 26 percent said they had quit by their next appointment. Of course, Neko isn’t intended to replace a primary care physician or specialist. Rather, it is designed to complement existing healthcare by identifying information that might otherwise go unnoticed between annual checkups and helping people have more informed conversations with their doctors.

In an era when we’re increasingly accustomed to tracking nearly every aspect of our daily lives, from how many steps we take to how many hours of deep sleep we get, having a more comprehensive understanding of our health feels like a natural next step. The most valuable wellness investment may not be another supplement or workout membership, after all. It might simply be an hour spent finding out what’s really going on inside your body.

The Neko Health clinic in SoHo New York City