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Spotify Founder and CEO Daniel Ek has entered the healthcare space with the launch of Neko Health, a Swedish healthtech firm. 

Neko, launched after four years of intense research and product development, aims to create a healthcare system that can help people stay healthy through preventive measures and early detection, according to a LinkedIn post by the company.

Daniel co-founded Neko with Hjalmar Nilsonne, who is also the founder of Watty, an AI-powered, smart home energy usage and insights platform located in Stockholm, Sweden.

“In Sweden, healthcare costs have increased 50% faster than GDP since the year 2000, and in 28 of 32 EU countries, the increase has been even faster. This has resulted in an unreasonable burden on medical staff to do more every year, and fewer resources than ever for prevention and public health,” Hjalmar said in the LinkedIn post.

He added that the company believes the solution is to move away from reactively treating the sick and move towards prevention and helping people stay healthy.

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The Stockholm-headquartered company said its approach requires completely reimagining the patient’s experience and incorporating the latest advances in sensors and AI. The startup claims to have developed a new medical scanning technology concept to make it possible to do broad and non-invasive health data collection.

According to the firm, Neko Body Scan can offer an extensive health examination for people with skin and heart concerns at its first health centre in central Stockholm. 

“The scan is non-invasive, takes just a few minutes to perform, and is followed immediately by an in-person doctor’s consultation to discuss the results,” the company said, adding that all diagnostic results are ready during a single visit so people don’t have to wait weeks.

Neko’s website says that it combines “more than 70 different sensors to capture a detailed picture of your health. The system is built by us from the ground up and is not available anywhere outside of our receptions.”

Neko Body Scan costs SEK 2,000 (about Rs 15,600), however, the company has sold out of scans currently, as per the company’s website. But people can sign up for the waiting list.

News website Sifted was the first to report about Daniel’s involvement in Neko Health (previously HJN Sverige).