Neko Health, a full-body scan startup co-founded by Spotify's Daniel Ek, has raised $260 million in Series B funding that values it at $1.8 billion, a source familiar has confirmed.

Why it matters: Full-body scan startups have spurred debate, particularly on cost, which Neko intends to address.

How it works: Launched in 2023, Neko scans take 50 minutes, says CEO and co-founder Hjalmar Nilsonne.

• A scan in the U.K., Neko's largest market, currently costs £299 and uses a mix of thermal cameras, 3D cameras, ECG, lasers, and finger sensors to detect conditions like heart disease, skin cancer, or Type 2 diabetes.
• Ezra and Prenuvo, two competitors, focus on MRI scans and can cost upward of $1,000.

Lightspeed Venture Partners led the round, with participation from General Catalyst, O.G. Venture Partners, Rosello, Lakestar and Atomico. The company would not confirm the valuation.

Between the lines: Much of its tech already exists on the market. Neko differentiates by combining it all together in one product, and building a way to automate some of the existing primary care checkups that are currently performed manually.

• "Neko is not about inventing a sensor from NASA that we've never seen before," he says. "Is about how we can bring all the best tech into one sensor."
• These scans are then followed up by doctor's visits at Neko's clinics. Those repeat check-ups enable Neko to quantitatively track changes over time.
• It has some 10,000 customers today, he says, declining to comment on the company's valuation.

What we're watching: Neko, which plans to launch in the U.S., is awaiting approval from both the FDA and from the states in which it plans to operate.

• Many existing, preventative full-body scans backed by venture capitalists aren't covered by insurance. There's evidence to suggest that will be true of Neko, too, as it's completely out-of-pocket in Europe.

The big picture: Full-body scan startups aiming to detect early-signs of cancer or chronic conditions have soared in popularity among venture capitalists and received celebrity endorsements. But critics have questioned the technology both on cost and on its effectiveness.

• With additional capital, however, such startups have more time to try and prove their critics wrong on both those fronts.
• "Our goal is to make Neko even more affordable over time, so we'll look at all possible options," said Nilsonne on the possibility of lowering the price further.

💭 Our thought bubble, via Axios' Claire Rychlewski: full-body scans require broad provider buy-in and that remains a significant obstacle, regardless of cost, because they're not recommended by professional medical organizations like the American College of Radiology.

• Plus, doctors argue the scans can cause "undue anxiety."

One fun thing: This is Ek's second unicorn.

SV Angel, the Ron Conway venture capital firm best known for its seed bets, raised $330 million for its second growth fund and $40 million for its 10th seed fund, filings with the SEC show.

Why it's the BFD: In part buoyed by AI bets, the company increased its raise by 23% from its first growth fund.

Driving the news: SV Angel wrote checks to OpenAI, Databricks, HippocraticAI, and Harvey out of that initial growth fund, which wrote checks of between $5 million and $20 million.

• Its seed fund also invested in Harvey and Databricks.
• Today, OpenAI is valued around $157 billion; Databricks at $62 billion; HippocraticAI at $1.6 billion; while Harvey is said to be close to a $3 billion valuation.

• Databricks, the SF-based data intelligence company, completed its $10b Series J raise valuing it at $62b. It had previously raised $8.6b for the round as of December. Meta joined the round. axios.link/3Cfqjyt

• StackBlitz, an SF-based maker of AI developer tools used to build websites, raised $83.5m in Series B funding at a $700m valuation. Emergence & GV led with participation from Madrona, The Chainsmokers (Mantis VC), and Conviction. stackblitz.com

• Fundraise Up, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based fundraising platform for nonprofits, raised $70m led by Summit Partners with participation from Telescope Partners. axios.link/3WpHzaT

🚑 Lindus Health, a NYC-based clinical trials research services company, raised a $55m Series B. Balderton Capital led the round and was joined by Visionaries Club, Creandum, Firstminute and Seedcamp. axios.link/40qcWUg

🎶 Music AI, a Salt Lake City-based AI app maker for audio and music, raised $40m. Connect Ventures and monashees led with participation from Kickstart, Samsung Next, Toba Capital, Valutia, and Pelion. music.ai

• Clay, a New York-based sales AI startup, raised $40m in additional Series B funding at a $1.25b valuation. Meritech led the round. axios.link/4aqRoew

• Baya Systems, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based system IP business, raised about $36m in Series B funding. Maverick Silicon led the round with participation from Synopsys, Matrix Partners and Intel Capital. axios.link/4areVfB

🚑 Arctic Therapeutics, an Icelandic maker of dementia therapies, raised €26.5m in Series A funding. Investors included EIC Fund, Kaldbakur, Sanos Group, Cerebrum DAO, and The Lurie Family Foundation. axios.link/40K3sob

• Ati Motors, an Indian autonomous robotics business, raised $20m in Series B funding led by Walden Catalyst Ventures and NGP Capital. atimotors.com

🍖 Project Eaden, a German plant-alternative meat maker, raised €15m in Series A funding. Planet A and Rewe Group led the round, per Axios Pro. axios.link/4g8eHLl

• Grepr, an SF-based software observability platform, raised $9m in seed funding. A16z led the round and was joined by boldstart, E14 Fund, Prime Set, and D'Arcy Coolican. axios.link/42tT3Oz

• Teal, a Miami-based job search platform, raised $7.5m in Series A funding. CityLight Capital and Flybridge led with participation from Rethink Capital Partners and Lerer Hippeau. tealhq.com

• Kaya AI, a New York-based construction supply chain platform, raised $5.3m in pre-seed funding led by 53 Stations, Suffolk Technologies and Soma Capital. usekaya.ai

• ZuriQ, a Swiss startup aiming to scale trapped-ion quantum computing, raised $4.2m. Founderful led with participation from SquareOne, First Momentum Ventures, OnSight Ventures and QAI Ventures. zuriq.com

• Egal, a Somerville, Mass.-based period pad and dispenser maker, raised $4m in Series A funding. The Bauer Family Office's Technology for Humanity led with participation from Slater Technology Fund, the Catalytic Impact Foundation, and Princeton Alumni Angels. padsonaroll.com

• SquarePeg, Salt Lake City-based evaluation platform for recruiting teams, raised $3.5m in seed funding. Next Frontier Capital led and was joined by Acadian Ventures, Bread & Butter Ventures, and Silicon Road Ventures. axios.link/3CjrcWG

• Pipeshift, an SF-based AI infrastructure business, raised $2.5m in seed funding. Y Combinator and SenseAI Ventures led with participation from Arka Venture Labs, Good News Ventures, Nivesha Ventures, Astir VC, GradCapital, and MyAsiaVC. pipeshift.com

• CapeZero, a New York-based clean energy financing startup, raised $2.6m. Powerhouse Ventures led with participation from Climactic, Avesta Fund, Virta Ventures, and Stepchange, per Axios Pro. axios.link/3Ek1j9G

• Cyclic Materials, a Toronto-based rare earth element and critical material recycling startup, raised $2m from InMotion Ventures. cyclicmaterials.earth

• Beanstack, a startup aiming to gamify reading, raised $1.5m led by Riverside Acceleration Capital and Evoce Capital. Other investors included Mark Cuban, Kapor Capital and Militello Capital. beanstack.com

• Favorited, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based livestream app, raised $1.3m in pre-seed funding. Investors included HF0 and Soma Ventures. axios.link/3PLFi6j

• Aiga Capital Partners invested in Cenergy Power, an Aliso Viejo, Calif.-based solar developer. axios.link/3ChHPlI

• AXA IM Prime and Patria Investments acquired a 15% stake in Latour Capital, a private equity firm focused on European mid-cap. axios.link/3PJDRVY

• Bain Capital upped its offer for Insignia, the Australian wealth manager, to A$3.1b ($1.9b). The bid matches that of CC Capital. axios.link/42oF900

• HongShan Capital is nearing a deal to acquire Marshall Group, a Swedish audio equipment maker, for $1.1b. axios.link/4hrqhCn

• LL Funds invested $15m in Evernest, a Birmingham, Ala.-based property management company. Evernest also acquired Poplar Homes, a Cupertino, Calif.-based property management platform. axios.link/4apv0Cp

• PSG Equity and Rivean Capital acquired Corilus, a medical software solutions for the primary care market in Belgium. axios.link/3Cu4GdF

• Tortuga Growth Partners invested in and combined SmarTek21, a U.S.-based product engineering firm, and Retro Rabbit, a South Africa-based product design firm specializing in banking and insurance solutions. axios.link/3WpPS6U

• Everstone agreed to acquire a majority stake in Wingify, an Indian software company, for about $200m, per TechCrunch. axios.link/3POJPFg

🚑 Beta Bionics, an Irvine, Calif.-based insulin delivery system, now plans to raise about $113m with shares priced between $14 and $16. axios.link/4arPYk8

• Silver Pegasus Acquisition, a SPAC seeking a target in the semiconductor industry, filed to raise $150m. axios.link/3Chx4ji

• Bain Capital is weighing a potential sale of Italmatch, a chemicals firm it acquired in 2018. A deal could value it at €1.5b, per Bloomberg. axios.link/40I4HnJ

• BlueMatrix, backed by Thoma Bravo, acquired of Street Context, an email intelligence and analytics company backed by 8VC, Portage, Point72 Ventures, and Generation Ventures. axios.link/40mQ1sO

• Ridgemont Equity Partners invested in Strata Information Group, a provider of services for higher education. Fort Point Capital exited. axios.link/4g9B5Eb

• Spotless Brands, a car wash operator backed by Access Holdings and Wafra, is exploring a sale that could value it at nearly $3b. axios.link/4aBvzZV

• A consortium backed by GP Günter Papenburg increased its bid for Salzgitter, the German steelmaker, to €1.1b, per Bloomberg. axios.link/3PJSuJ3

• Physician's Choice, a maker of supplements and probiotics, is exploring a sale that could value the company at over $500m, per Reuters. axios.link/4asSYwy

• Incline Equity Partners closed Incline Ascent Fund II with about $500m. axios.link/40wodCr

• Caffeinated Capital is seeking $400m for a fifth fund. axios.link/40JJo5j

• Mor Chen was named partner at Greylock. She was previously at Accel. axios.link/4asDLf2

• Chris Young, Microsoft's head of business development and head of its venture unit M12, resigned from his role. axios.link/3Wr08fa

• Sam Shapiro was promoted to partner (technology) at VMG and Eliza Becker was promoted to principal (consumer). axios.link/42rPJDE

• Yan-David Erlich was named general partner at B Capital. He was previously COO and CRO at Weights & Biases. axios.link/3POLKta

Construction spending on data centers grew dramatically last year, with the first 11 months clocking in at $303.9 billion compared to $218.4 billion for all of 2023.

• That comes amid an Information report that SoftBank and OpenAI are each committing $19 billion in initial capital to the $500 billion of planned spending on AI infrastructure in the U.S.
• "Microsoft is investing $80 billion in capital each year," Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told Andrew Ross Sorkin when asked about Stargate and questions surrounding its financing. "All I know is I'm good for my $80 billion."