A single hour-long visit now scans your entire body, maps thousands of skin spots, and checks your heart and blood before you even finish your coffee.
Story Snapshot
- Neko Health’s body scan takes about 60 minutes and checks skin, heart, and blood without needles or radiation.
- The company opened its first United States location in New York City on September 24, 2026, after more than 25,000 New Yorkers joined the waitlist.
- A Men’s Health reviewer had 1,596 skin markings mapped during his session, with results shared on-site by a medical professional.
- Medical experts warn that whole-body screening scans carry real risks, including false alarms and unnecessary follow-up tests.
What Actually Happens During The Scan
Neko Health built its scan around speed and convenience. The visit lasts about 60 minutes and combines a 360-degree skin check, heart monitoring, and blood testing in one sitting. The company says the scan gathers “millions of health data points” without needles that draw blood the traditional way, and without radiation exposure. A reviewer for Men’s Health walked out with 1,596 individual skin markings mapped by the machine.
Founded by Spotify co-founder Daniel Ek and Hjalmar Nilsonne, Neko Health first launched its scanner in Stockholm back in 2023. The company built momentum overseas before crossing the Atlantic, raising a $260 million round in January 2025 and then a massive $700 million Series C round in July 2026 to fund its United States expansion. That kind of investor confidence signals real belief in the business model, even before the medical community weighs in on the science.
The New York Launch And What Customers Get
The New York location opened its doors on September 24, 2026, inside a SoHo storefront at 300 Lafayette Street. More than 25,000 New Yorkers had already joined the waitlist before the doors opened, adding to a global waitlist that topped 300,000 people. The scan costs $499 and qualifies for Health Savings Account and Flexible Spending Account reimbursement, making it an easier sell for health-conscious professionals.
Unlike a typical doctor’s visit, results come back the same day. Neko says clients sit down with a medical professional right after the scan to review findings in person. In June 2026, the company added body composition tracking and wearable device integration, expanding what the scan measures beyond the original skin, heart, and blood readings. Business Insider described the device as spitting out a full “health action plan” after collecting photos, blood, and electrical signals from a person’s body.
Why Doctors Urge Caution Before You Book
Neko’s pitch sounds appealing, but the broader medical field has debated elective whole-body screening for years. The American Medical Association has stated that scans like these “have not been scientifically validated for screening purposes”. That caution matters because good intentions and slick marketing don’t automatically translate into better health outcomes, especially when a scan hasn’t been tested against real survival data.
Research on whole-body MRI screening, a similar category of preventive scan, found a pooled false-positive rate near 16 percent across multiple studies. One review found that 95 percent of healthy people scanned turned up at least one abnormal finding, and 91 percent of those findings turned out to be irrelevant. A Cochrane review of general health checks concluded that routine screening offers to healthy people are unlikely to reduce illness or death, and may instead lead to unnecessary tests and treatments.
Would you pay $499 for a full-body health scan when you feel perfectly healthy?
The Wall Street Journal recently asked: “People Are Lining Up for Full-Body Scans. But Are They Necessary?”
Neko Health, co-founded by Spotify founder Daniel Ek, is getting attention. Its first U.S.… pic.twitter.com/FvVYXYaoWV
— Dr. Nicole M. Batty MD, MBA, MSF, FACP, FASCP, (@Echelonmednyc) September 26, 2026
None of this means new screening technology is worthless. Catching a dangerous mole early or spotting an irregular heartbeat before it becomes a crisis has real value for the right patient. But conservatives who value personal responsibility and smart spending should ask hard questions before handing over $499 for a scan that hasn’t cleared the same evidence bar as a mammogram or colonoscopy. Convenience and confidence are not the same thing as proof, and Americans deserve honest answers about what these results actually mean for their health.
Sources:
menshealth.com, nekohealth.com, prnewswire.com, x.com
