UK healthtech startup Stride raises £4.6M to expand preventative health platform

Stride, a UK preventative health startup launched in May 2024 by Olympic medallist Andrew Steele, has raised £4.6 million in seed funding to expand its diagnostics-led platform and push beyond the UK. The round brings in Arāya Ventures, Morgan Stanley Inclusive & Sustainable Ventures, Better Ventures, Innovate UK, an a16z Scout Fund investor and a group of angels.

The company’s pitch is simple enough, even if the machinery behind it isn’t. Members get DNA, blood and gut testing, then a personalised readout meant to help them understand what their data actually means and how it changes over time. Stride is betting that this is more useful than waiting for problems to show up and then trying to clean up the mess.

That idea is also why the startup keeps talking about behaviour, not just diagnostics. It wants people to spot risk earlier, make different choices sooner and, in theory, build habits that stick. Steele, who also co-founded DNAfit, frames preventative health as something that should feel more engaging than dutiful, and the company’s product line follows that logic closely.

There is a public-health angle here too. Stride says earlier risk detection could ease pressure on services such as the NHS by helping people address preventable issues before they become bigger problems. It has already secured Innovate UK backing for two research projects: one on a multiomic way to measure biological age, and another on an AI health copilot that pulls together lab results, wearable data, health records and other information.

And the business is not staying inside the clinic. Stride is moving into the premium wellness and longevity space through partnerships with Triple Bond at The BoTree Hotel and LongLane, an alcohol-free biohacking destination, using its tests to shape members’ experiences. The new funding will go into a more predictive, personalised platform, and Stride One is slated to launch internationally before the end of 2026.