Daniel Ek's Neko Health to open first US office in New York

Neko Health’s promised U.S. expansion arrives on September 24, when the health-scanning startup opens its first American office, in SoHo — Manhattan’s home of luxury shopping — at 300 Lafayette Street.

Neko was founded by Spotify co-founder and CEO Daniel Ek and Hjalmar Nilsonne, who serves as Neko’s CEO. The company says more than 25,000 New Yorkers have already joined a waitlist for scans.

Neko Health has developed proprietary body-scanning technology — hardware that images the body in detail — which it pairs with bloodwork and data from fitness devices to assess a person’s health. The startup currently has locations in the U.K. and Sweden. When it raised a $700 million Series C — a late-stage venture round — last month, it said 100,000 people had already had scans.

Neko is among a growing number of health-scanning companies created by tech founders or backed by VCs. Midjourney, the AI lab best known for its AI image and video generation model and website, is also building a body scanner that it plans to integrate into a spa experience, with a planned opening in San Francisco in 2027. Tony Robbins and Peter Diamandis run a longevity company — a business focused on extending healthy lifespan — called Fountain Life that offers scans and health assessments. Function Health, co-founded by wellness podcaster Dr. Mark Hyman, offers blood testing and added body scans after acquiring the startup Ezra; Function recently took on a $450 million loan from General Catalyst’s Customer Value Fund, where companies repay the money through profit-sharing arrangements.

Why it matters

Neko’s rush to expand puts it in a widening race with well-funded health-scanning rivals — including Midjourney’s planned scanner-spa — to turn body scans into a mainstream wellness product.