Stride, a health startup founded by Olympic athlete Andrew Steele, has successfully secured £4.6 million in seed funding. Steele, a former British sprinter who competed in the 400m, aims to revolutionize the field of preventive health.
The company specializes in health assessments using DNA, blood, and gut samples. By the end of 2026, Stride plans to expand its offering, called Stride One, to international markets. The newly acquired funds will support two significant projects: one focuses on a multiomic approach to evaluate biological age, while the other is geared towards developing an AI-driven health assistant that integrates various health data, including lab results and wearable technology.
In a competitive sports career, Steele initially finished fourth in the 4x400m relay at the 2008 Beijing Olympics but was later awarded a bronze medal after a retest of stored athlete samples revealed doping violations by competitors. After retiring from athletics, he launched DNAfit, a personal genetics company, which was later acquired by Prenetics, a health technology firm. Steele held a high-ranking position at Prenetics until early 2023, following the company’s successful listing on the Nasdaq in May 2022.
Steele believes that the perception of preventive healthcare needs to change, emphasizing that everyone, not just elite athletes, should benefit from health monitoring and personalized insights. He notes a growing trend where people are becoming more conscious of their health and are eager to learn more about their bodies. Stride aims to empower individuals to transition from merely existing to nurturing their healthiest selves.
Stride offers a variety of services, including a DNA test that assesses specific genes and personalized consultations with dietitians. Their health kits are shipped from a UK lab to customers around the world. Furthermore, Stride One helps members estimate their biological age through nine blood biomarkers.
In a unique move, Stride is entering the hospitality industry by partnering with wellness clubs, providing health diagnostics at venues like the triplebond social wellness club in London and an alcohol-free wellness club in West Sussex.
In its mission, Stride also points to the heavy costs lifestyle-related diseases impose on the UK’s National Health Service. Steele highlighted, “Preventative health can sometimes sound dry, but it holds transformative potential. If we make health exciting and engaging, we can significantly improve behaviors that affect how long and well we live.”
The funding from Innovate UK is primarily for the development of the two planned projects — the biological age assessment method and the AI health assistant.
Despite the challenges in a competitive market, Stride has managed to attract attention. In comparison, other companies in the health sector have garnered substantial investments, with Function Health raising $450 million and Superpower securing $30 million in a recent funding round.
The global demand for preventive healthcare services is set to expand, with projections estimating market growth from $412.59 billion in 2026 to $741.85 billion by 2031. Rupa Popat, an investor at Arāya Ventures, remarked on Stride’s potential to help individuals understand and act on their health data.
However, Stride’s main task will be maintaining member engagement beyond the initial excitement, particularly as it faces stiff competition from larger firms in the industry.
