Exclusive: Ex-Revolut and NHS team launches Emerald with £625K to unite health data into one AI-powered preventive plan

The UK faces a significant health crisis: 65% of preventable deaths areattributableto avoidable causes. Despite this, 37% of cancer cases aredetectedonly when patients arrive at A&E. Moreover, more than a quarter of UK millennialsfeeldismissed when voicing health concerns to medical professionals. This highlights a broader systemic issue: while the NHS excels at acute care, it isn’t structured to deliver proactive, personalised preventive health at scale.
Emerald, a preventive health platform combining diagnostics, AI, and continuous GP access, aims to address a critical gap in healthcare: the lack of adequate preventive care for healthy individuals who want to take proactive steps. Globally, preventive health is booming, with the marketprojected to reach$773 billion by 2034, as stakeholders recognise the benefits of early intervention.
Speaking exclusively toTFN,Alexander Badalyan, co-founder and CEO of Emerald, shared: “What we’re seeing is a generation that’s highly engaged with their health – tracking sleep, stress, exercise, nutrition – but they’re doing it in silos. Everyone’s tracking something, but no one is helping them connect the dots. The NHS isn’t designed to support proactive optimisation. Doctors don’t have the time, and private options are either fragmented or unaffordable.”
Badalyan added, “Emerald brings it all together. We combine comprehensive biomarker testing, longitudinal health tracking, wearables integration, and GP-led insight to give people a full picture of their health, and a plan to stay ahead of illness.”
Today, the company emerged from stealth with £625,000 in funding from prominent European founders, operators, and professional athletes. Notable contributors include Mart Abramov (ex-Wise and founder of TaxScouts), Mike Benchimol (ex-Checkout.com and COO ofH Company), Jane Austin (ex-Babylon Health), Patrick Bamford, Harry Glorikian (Scientia Ventures), Nikolay Tretiakov (Leafy Tunnel), and Johann Huber (founder of Soma Analytics), alongside several General Partners from top VC firms investing personally. This diverse backing reflects growing confidence in digital health, with UK healthtech investment reaching £3.8 billion in 2023.
Emerald is a UK-based healthtech company reimagining preventive care. Combining diagnostics, AI, and GP insights helps people take control of their health before symptoms appear. The platform’s AI engine analyses data from blood tests, wearables, and lifestyle inputs, identifying early warning signs and suggesting actionable steps  —an integrated approach rarely found in existing NHS and private pathways.
Emerald’s founding team balances medical and fintech expertise. CEO Badalyan previously cofounded Mashroom (a UK proptech/insurtech startup), CTOAnton Shchipanovdeveloped software at Revolut, and Head of AINazar Beknazarovtrained LLMs atToloka, a GenAI provider. Dr McNally leads the clinical side, bringing experience from publishing London’s first 28-day COVID mortality study and advising healthtech companies at Oliver Wyman. This combination uniquely positions Emerald to bridge cutting-edge technology and robust clinical governance.
Co-founders Alexander Badalyan and Anton Shchipanov initially planned to build a premium credit card platform — a UK challenger to Amex, Yonder, and similar services. However, early user interviews revealed an unexpected insight.
“We asked people what they’d include in their dream Amex membership benefits. So many mentioned prevention perks – annual health screens, GP access, health tracking,” said Badalyan. “We first thought we’d build something like a credit card with wellness benefits. But we quickly realised people weren’t asking for perks – they were voicing unmet needs around their health.”
This revelation led the team to pivot entirely to healthtech and bring on their third co-founder, Dr Dan McNally, to lead Emerald’s clinical strategy and operations. Such pivots are increasingly common in the UK’s dynamic startup scene, where founders follow genuine user pain points, especially in high-stakes sectors like healthcare.
In its invite-only Alpha, Emerald has already identified early signs of cardiovascular risks, thyroid issues, and metabolic conditions, enabling users to act before symptoms develop. Its GP team provides guidance, action points, and referrals as needed.
Emerald aims to transform preventive health by helping people track, understand, and act on their health before illness strikes. Unlike full-stack providers such as Sweden’s Neko Health, which operates its clinics, Emerald partners with hundreds of UK diagnostic centres. Users can receive a comprehensive 10-minute screening covering blood, urine, and physical metrics, then get personalised health plans based on their data, with GP oversight.
“Everyone’s tracking something, but no one’s tying it together. Doctors don’t have time, and the NHS won’t do it for people who aren’t sick. But people are starving for insight that could prevent illness,” said Alexander Badalyan, co-founder and CEO. “Think of Emerald as your doctor-led preventive health companion, powered by data and AI.”
Badalyan concluded: “Over the next 3–5 years, we’ll scale rapidly across the UK, building evidence for integration with private insurers and the NHS. Our asset-light model, partnering with existing clinics rather than operating them, enables quick expansion into new markets. We’ve already explored several international regions where preventive care infrastructure is lacking, but demand is growing.”
He added: “Our long-term vision is to become the default platform for proactive health management — globally accessible, medically grounded, and centred on the individual rather than the illness.”
With thousands on Emerald’s waitlist and Beta launching to the public, the company is gradually expanding access while calibrating GP availability. Early users include Team GB athletes, clinicians, and multiple VCs who joined the waitlist to try the product.
Emerald’s 12-month membership includes two in-person screenings covering more than 115 biomarkers, full access to an AI-powered health dashboard, one-to-one GP chat support for preventive health queries and referrals, wearable and past lab integration, and dynamic goals with ongoing recommendations.
“Most online services focus on a single issue — diabetes, skin, fertility — leaving users to piece together the rest,” said Dr. McNally. “We start with the complete picture and guide users from there.” As digital health matures, platforms like Emerald, offering holistic, integrated care, are poised to become the gold standard, helping millions live healthier, longer lives.