Spotify Founder Daniel Ek Announces Neko Health, His Healthcare Startup

Hundreds of millions of people turn to Spotify for their music needs, healing their souls with all sorts of music. Now, Spotify founder Daniel Ek has announced his Swedish healthcare startup Neko Health, which specializes in providing body scans powered by artificial intelligence (AI).

The names of the co-founders, Daniel Ek and Hjalmar Nilsonne, were mentioned in a LinkedIn post made by the company. The post also mentioned a focus on a healthcare system that helps people “stay healthy through preventive measures and early detection.”

Non-Invasive Full-Body Scanner

The healthcare industry is fiercely competitive, especially when it comes to new technology. However, according to Neko Health, its full-body scanner is non-invasive and can detect a number of useful things to help detect and, hopefully, prevent problems. Here are a few of the things it is said to detect:

• Growth of birthmarks, rashes, and age spots
• Abnormalities in heart function
• Irregular blood pressure and pulse

The 360-degree scanner includes over 70 sensors that are capable of collecting a large amount of data at once, making it a relatively quick process. Specifically, the scanner collects “50 million data points on skin, heart, vessels, respiration, microcirculation and more.”

To make things even more efficient, the data is then processed by a “self-learning AI-powered system.” The results are then sent to doctors and patients, a trend likely to be seen more often as AI’s presence continues to increase in healthcare. While doctors still have the important role of reviewing everything and communicating with patients, the results can be tracked and viewed by patients via app.

Neko Health’s Fight Against Rising Healthcare Costs

Healthcare costs have been rising around the world. In the US, healthcare costs have been rising year by year, and the same is true in Sweden and the European Union. However, Neko Health’s full-body scans are looking to push back. These scans, which are open to the public and only take a few minutes, only cost around $190 (2,000 SEK).

Ek’s Long-Time Desire

While the announcement was unexpected, Ek’s decision to venture into the industry was not. There have been some rumors about the startup for months, but Ek’s interest in the healthcare industry is at least a decade old.

In 2013, Ek revealed to The Financial Times that he spent a lot of time thinking about the “screwed-up healthcare system.” He spoke about potentially involving himself in the industry, saying, “I’m not the inventor, but I may be the person that’s dumb enough to go against the system and try to beat it on its own terms.”

It seems like he finally decided to give it a shot with Neko Health, a startup reportedly four years in the making.

Of course, it is unknown how far Neko Health will go or what sort of impact it will have, but AI technology is promising, and full-body scans are incredibly valuable when it comes to detection and prevention. If the tech can be applied at scale and with a low price point, it will be quite exciting.