Why Investors Are Betting Billions on Full-Body Scanning as Healthcare's Future
Spotify founder Daniel Ek's Neko Health secured $700 million for preventative body scanning, but it's far from alone in this emerging category. We spoke with a key backer about why the industry sees such potential.
https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=TCML7767615384%20
A wave of venture capital is flowing into companies that use advanced scanning technology to detect health issues before symptoms emerge. Neko Health, backed by Spotify's Daniel Ek, just raised $700 million on this thesis, yet competitors like Midjourney and Function Health are also building similar platforms and securing substantial funding. The question driving investor interest: can body scanning become a standard part of how Americans manage their health?
On the latest episode of TechCrunch's Equity podcast, host Dominic-Madori Davis spoke with Farooq Abbasi, founder and general partner of Preface Ventures and an investor in Neko Health, to explore how the company stacks up against other consumer-health ventures and what needs to happen for scanning to integrate into the mainstream healthcare system.
The conversation covers several key topics:
- Abbasi's decision to invest in Neko after experiencing the company's scan firsthand
- The specifics of Neko's $500 scan offering and the operational strategies that enable its pricing
- Abbasi's perspective on inadequate primary-care usage as a critical gap in U.S. healthcare delivery
- His assessment that certain consumer-health startups may be receiving excessive funding
- The potential for richer health datasets to fuel the next generation of AI-driven medical applications
Equity is available on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and other podcast platforms. Follow the show on X and Threads at @EquityPod.
Read more
Spotify Founder's Health Screening Startup Neko Brings Preventative Medicine to the U.S.
The body-scanning company co-founded by David Ek has arrived in New York with a 300,000-person waitlist and backing from nearly $1 billion in funding.
FieldAI Seeks $700M at $10B Valuation as Robot AI Demand Accelerates
The robotics AI startup is in advanced fundraising talks that would quintuple its valuation from last year, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Tech hiring slows even as employers post record open positions
A surge in IT job listings to three-year highs masks a contraction in actual hiring, with technology sector roles declining and unemployment ticking upward.