Recently, I was struck by a conversation held with a specialised health VC (who will remain anonymous). We were discussing a longevity startup (which will also remain anonymous) that had no defensible, unique health assets, such as patents or proprietary approaches. In fact, it was based on existing, commonly available science, and its only strengths were great customer acquisition metrics, high retention rates and an overwhelmingly positive net promoter score (NPS). Indeed, the health VC tore the company apart. There is no other way to put it.
At first, his reaction shocked me into deference. I previously thought this was a potentially great investment, and me not having a deep health investing background, I assumed he was probably right. Yet, thinking about this incident again, I believe the VC missed a major point.
Take the celebrated Swedish longevity startup Neko Health. In July 2026, Neko Health announced its $700 million Series C funding round. The company has developed an impressive, proprietary 15-minute 3D scan technology using over 70 sensors that capture roughly 50 million data points, analysed by its in-house AI to assess moles, skin conditions and cardiac markers simultaneously. It furthermore owns several medical patents.
Image from the Neko Health media kit (2025-09-24 UK - Neko Health Victoria)
But that is not all there is to Neko Health. Controversially, one of the most important drivers of the startup’s success is not in the proprietary scientific and medical assets it has developed, these are merely the table stakes. In fact, the diagnostic systems themselves are perhaps as much about scalability and consumer usability as about high-end medicine.
I don’t have access to their funding deck, but I am confident that Neko Health has superior consumer metrics, such as acquisition, consumer journey, retention, and NPS, combined with access to excellent funding sources. These are the classic requirements for fast growth in consumer markets. To top it off, the global waitlist for a Neko Health Scan has grown to over 350,000 registered people.
Investors in Neko Health are mostly generalist VC funds with deep pockets, such as Lightspeed Venture Partners, O.G. Venture Partners, Atomico, General Catalyst and Lakestar, as well as celebrities such as Tim Ferriss, Mark Zuckerberg and will.i.am.
Indeed, very few longevity startups have this much consumer pedigree.
It was co-founded, after all, by Spotify founder Daniel Ek. But the standout importance of consumer excellence isn’t unique to Neko Health. Take the glucose-tracking startup Levels, backed by a16z since its 2020 seed round.
As far as I can tell, Levels has no proprietary hardware or unique diagnostic assets. Instead, it pairs a third-party continuous glucose monitor with its software. It has grown to more than 60,000 members and has raised several rounds on the strength of its consumer experience and retention – rather than depending on any underlying medical breakthrough. As I wrote with Neko, health technology is table stakes and the consumer product is what a16z kept funding.
In a nutshell, I think most VCs investing in longevity believe that, due to a broad range of scientific advances covering many different areas of health, we have the insights and capabilities to allow us to live longer, much better lives - something I coin “The Good Life.”
Most VCs share the vision that they want as many people as possible to have access to these insights and capabilities, and, in the end, also want to see great returns for their investors.
I also think most investors would acknowledge that much of the required scientific and medical knowledge to improve lives is already publicly available. Sure, there are undoubtedly future gains to be had by advancing medical and scientific insight further or developing novel approaches. But there are also huge gains to be realised by making already available insights broadly accessible and actionable to more people.
To be successful over time, startups require barriers to entry – this too is uncontested. But these can come from different sources and from unique access to scientific or medical findings, processes or implementations.
In addition, they can come from an advantage to grow, retain, and monetise customers, in the form of a superior customer acquisition approach, a fantastic customer journey, or a great product-market fit. Some startups have both, like Neko Health, but I would always place my bets on the consumer side of the equation.