YOU(th) has closed a US$4.5m funding round to expand its smartphone health screening platform, which uses AI and machine learning to assess health risks in under two minutes.
The digital health company, which aims to expand preventive care globally, said rising interest in longevity among younger people alongside an ageing population is increasing demand for health screening.
Research suggests around 60 per cent of people avoid preventive tests due to long waits, high costs and cumbersome hardware.
YOU(th) is seeking to address this gap by using smartphone sensor data and machine learning, a form of AI that identifies patterns in data, to simplify preventive screening.
Using inputs such as face videos, voice recordings, eye and skin images, typing patterns and step data, the platform can assess more than 50 digital biomarkers across over 10 organ systems.
Filippo Nigro, founder and chief executive of YOU(th), said: “Everyone talks about prevention, yet only about 8 per cent screen at the optimal frequency because time, cost, and friction get in the way.
“We remove those barriers by turning everyday phone behaviour, selfies, voice, typing, into passive health screening, seamlessly connected to real healthcare.
“Prevention shouldn’t interrupt life; it should run inside it.”
By reducing reliance on specialised hardware, needles and clinic visits, the company said its technology could enable frequent, low-friction health checks covering cardiovascular, respiratory, cognitive, dermatological, metabolic, mental and blood health.
Estimated indicators include blood pressure, oxygen saturation, respiratory symptom index, proxies for glucose, haemoglobin and cholesterol, cognitive age, skin condition and hydration levels.
The funding round was led by Callisto Health, with participation from caesar., adesso Ventures, Antler, Moonstone and 1024 Ventures.
Angel investors also joined, including Jean-Charles Samuelian, founder and chief executive of Alan and a founding member of Mistral AI, and Patrick Andrae, founder and chief executive of HomeToGo.
YOU(th) said it will use the funding to accelerate product development and expand its engineering, data science and medical research teams.
