Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy HBOT

Breakit Article

Sand Clinic and Age Back Co Want to Optimize Your Health Through Premium Memberships: “Better Quality of Life” (Backed by Spotify’s Founders)

Newspaper Article: Published in “Breakit” on December 29, 2025

Freely translated from the original article in Swedish. Read the original: Breakit.se.

As the concept of “longevity” increasingly infiltrates the tech world, new players are emerging in Stockholm, promising to optimize our long-term health and help us avoid physical decline. But it comes at a price. Memberships, which are growing in popularity, start at over $9,000 and can run into the millions per year.

At the same time, Anna Levander, CEO of Sand Clinic, is sounding a note of caution about the longevity trend. “It’s become a hype cycle, and with that comes strong commercial interests that aren’t always aligned with what’s actually good for the consumer,” she says in an interview.

Health, Longevity, and Performance – those are the first words that appear on Sand Clinic’s website. Yet CEO Anna Levander refuses to call it a longevity clinic. “We don’t promise our members they’ll live longer by coming to us. What we do is help create a better quality of life as they age,” she says.

The clinic aims, by her own account, to demonstrate that preventive care helps people live healthier lives. The goal is for members to avoid being held back by “aches, illness, and decline” and instead “optimize their health over time.”

“Unlike others, we make no promises about lifespan – we talk about healthy aging. I think that’s an important distinction amid all the longevity noise in the market right now,” she says, adding that everything the company offers its members is grounded in science.

Sand Clinic, located in Stockholm and opened in April 2024, has seen a clear surge in interest. During its first full year of operations, net revenue came in at approximately $930,000, while operating loss reached around $3.2 million. That compares to the prior year, when net revenue was roughly $100,000 and the operating loss was approximately $1.85 million.

According to the CEO, membership numbers are growing steadily, even as the company has chosen to scale deliberately. “Every new member brings new needs, since we tailor both treatment plans and care to each member’s health goals and medical needs,” says Anna Levander, who co-founded the company with Jennie Sandqvist, a former senior neurologist.

How It Works

Sand Clinic combines primary care, preventive care, and select specialist care. Each member is supported by a team of health experts – including a physician, nutritionist, health coach or psychologist, nurse, and physical therapist or chiropractor – who together build a personalized treatment plan based on the member’s goals.

The clinic also offers red light therapy, medical massage, and LPG (deep connective tissue massage that stimulates blood and lymphatic circulation). Next year, the company plans to launch performance optimization services for elite athletes, which won’t require a membership, though the CEO declined to share further details.

“We hyperpersonalize our treatment plans. Cold-water immersion, for example, isn’t right for everyone – it depends on each person’s health goals, genetic predisposition, and epigenetics.”

Plans to add a hyperbaric chamber after the new year have been put on hold. “There are significant shortcomings with current suppliers – particularly around comfort and safety, which are prerequisites for regular use and achieving medical outcomes. We’re waiting until a model meets our standards,” Levander explains.

The clinic does not offer stem cell treatments. In Sweden, stem cell therapy is only approved for specific indications, such as blood cancer. However, Sand Clinic does conduct evaluations for members who wish to undergo stem cell treatments abroad. “If a member wants to pursue stem cell treatment in a country where it’s approved, we run tests and examinations to verify they’re a suitable candidate and can tolerate the procedure, and we monitor their medical status afterward.”

“Stem cells are a fascinating treatment modality that Jennie Sandqvist follows closely. There’s solid evidence for certain specific indications. But when it comes to longevity, the data simply isn’t there yet,” says Anna Levander.

Memberships in the Millions

Annual membership prices range from roughly $14,000 to $140,000, depending on the tier. “Everyone who wants to become a member meets with me at the clinic for an interview, so they have a chance to form their own impression of what we can deliver. It’s also a way for us to truly understand each member’s needs and have an honest conversation about what we can — and can’t — do.”

Asked whether exclusive health clubs risk widening health inequality, Levander pushes back: “We hope it can actually serve as inspiration. That people of all ages make smart choices to live healthier, invest in their health early, and ultimately reduce the burden on the public healthcare system. Public healthcare is first and foremost there to treat sick people.”

On the longevity trend: “We welcome it, because it’s fundamentally about people living healthier lives. That said, it has become a hype cycle, and with that come strong commercial interests that aren’t always aligned with what’s best for the consumer or patient. People are buying products online – influenced by social media personalities — that at best have no effect and at worst are outright dangerous. It’s problematic when bad actors make promises without data to back up the methods they’re promoting.”

The clinic’s ownership reads like a who’s who of the Stockholm tech world. Spotify co-founder Daniel Ek’s investment vehicle Antheia Investment holds 30%, fellow Spotify co-founder Martin Lorentzon’s Rosello Company Limited holds another 30%, Anna Levander Invest (belonging to the clinic’s co-founder and CEO, who also happens to be Daniel Ek’s sister-in-law) holds 20%, and the remaining 20% is owned by Swedish Biohealth, controlled by co-founder and Chief Medical Officer Jennie Sandqvist. Earlier this year, Sifted reported that the company had raised nearly $4.6 million from the Spotify founders.

The Newly Opened Age Back Co.

On a dark, rainy Friday morning in December, I knock on the door at Jungfrugatan 7B in Stockholm’s upscale Ostermalm neighborhood. When the door swings open, the weather is quickly forgotten.

The space feels like a spa – warm, softly lit, and serene. Cem Arel (the first name is pronounced “Jem”), founder of the parent company, appears in the entryway. The club, which opened gradually over the summer, operates under the brand “Age Back Co. – Access Beyond.” The “A” stands for Access (to advanced treatment programs), “B” for Biology, and “C” for Control – meaning the programs are built on biological principles and results are measured before and after each treatment.

“The vision is to give people ‘access beyond’ – access to treatments that were previously hard to reach,” says Arel, a serial entrepreneur who co-founded the creative platform Klingit, among other ventures.

He’s careful to point out that Age Back Co. does not offer individualized medical programs. Instead, it works with clearly defined protocols that are typically used as a complement to care provided by partner clinics or members’ own physicians.

The facility offers red light therapy, infrared sauna (said to support the immune system and ease stiff joints), cold plunge, traditional sauna, robotic massage, cryotherapy, and HIFEM (High-Intensity Focused Electromagnetic) – a technology that uses electromagnetic pulses to stimulate intense muscle contractions without any physical effort from the user. “If you place these pads on your body – say, on your abdomen for 30 minutes – it’s the equivalent of 20,000 sit-ups,” says Arel.

The Hyperbaric Chamber Is the Core

The heart of the membership is HBOT, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy. Two large hyperbaric chambers dominate one half of what was once King Gustav V’s private tennis court. “HBOT is the foundation of everything we do in Stockholm. The other offerings are complementary, but it’s the oxygen therapy program that drives the biggest results,” says Arel.

“When oxygen is delivered under elevated pressure, it dissolves directly into the blood plasma, allowing up to 15 times more oxygen to circulate through the body compared to normal breathing.” He notes that the treatment can contribute to faster healing and infection control, while stressing that Age Back Co.’s HBOT program is not medical treatment in the traditional sense, but rather “a structured recovery and resilience program within the membership framework,” always conducted under medical supervision.

The other half of the main hall houses a boutique gym with AI-enabled resistance training machines. “With machines like ARX — Adaptive Resistance Exercise — you can work all major muscle groups in about 30 minutes. It’s not something you do every day, more like once a month, because the sessions are incredibly demanding. Kind of like being chased by a lion.”

Upstairs is a workspace with desks and phone booths, designed so members can take calls or virtual meetings without rushing off after a treatment. “A lot of what we offer here is about helping members recover and reduce stress.”

Backed by a Spotify Billionaire

Age Back Co. has two owners: Cem Arel and Spotify co-founder Martin Lorentzon, who is also a co-owner of Sand Clinic. The club holds up to 200 members and currently has around 50 paying members. Memberships start at approximately $10,000 per year and include access to all treatments, including 30 HBOT sessions. “We’re selling two memberships a day right now,” says CEO Estelle Nordenfalk.

The Stockholm location is a pilot. “The plan is to open many more centers, with hyperbaric at the core,” says Arel. “But we won’t be expanding further in Sweden – the next location will most likely be London.”

Celebrities Are Flocking In

Several high-profile Swedish names have publicly documented their visits on Instagram, including investor Evelina Anttila, influencer Vivi Wallin, and TV personality Katia Mosally. Crime novelist Camilla Lackberg – currently in the public eye for a reality series – also promoted Age Back Co. on Instagram, documenting a stem cell treatment she underwent in Istanbul through the group’s regenerative medicine center in Turkey, while her husband Simon Skold received a hair transplant at Idealofmed, another brand within the same company group.

According to Arel, many of Stockholm’s most prominent entrepreneurs are members—and for good reason. “As a founder, you spend your early years working incredibly hard with very little money. By the time you hit your 30s, you’re aging faster biologically — muscle mass is declining, your body is absorbing chronic stress, maybe you’re on social media too much, drinking a little too much wine, eating poorly. The body accumulates a health debt.”

Arel outlines four foundational pillars for paying off that health debt: sleep, nutrition, exercise, and strong social connections. “The fifth thing you can do — according to us — is hyperbaric therapy, which is the core of our membership.”

Ideally, a person should complete at least 30 sessions, five days a week, in 80-to-110-minute intervals. But Arel is candid: none of what Age Back Co. offers is entirely new. “You can get similar effects through meditation, several hours of yoga a day, time outdoors in natural light, and being disciplined about sleep, diet, and exercise. Not everyone has the time or ability to do that. Many of our members have demanding careers and fast-paced lives.”

“The point,” adds Nordenfalk, “is that the last 15 to 20 years of your life shouldn’t be spent in chronic pain, disease, or with low energy and poor quality of life. A lot of what we do is about giving the body enough recovery time, because that’s when the conditions are right for your system to start repairing itself.”

On why longevity has become such a cultural moment: “I think it’s a perfect storm. Poor health outcomes are rising sharply. At the same time, more people have access to health knowledge, and the ability to measure how your body is doing has become far more accessible. The tech world – not the healthcare system – is driving this forward.”

Arel closes with a tease: “There’s an enormous amount in the pipeline, especially around hair and cell therapies.”

Age Back Co and Stem Cell Treatments

The Swedish limited company Age Back Co is part of the Dutch corporate group Age Back Co. B.V. The group also includes a “center for regenerative medicine” located in Istanbul, Turkey, which among other things offers treatments with mesenchymal stem cells (commonly abbreviated as MSCs). The center also offers PRP, in combination with exosomes (which function as a communication pathway between cells, according to KI), in the context of hair transplants and hair growth.

According to Cem Arel, the treatments are carried out in collaboration with Vivosel, a laboratory that cultivates MSCs in accordance with GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice). This facility is also located in Istanbul. According to Cem Arel, the group is the largest shareholder in Vivosel, where he himself also serves on the board.

The stem cells cultivated by Vivosel originate from donated umbilical cord tissue. Donations take place in connection with planned cesarean sections, where parents voluntarily donate the umbilical cord for research through collaborations between hospitals and our laboratory, according to Cem Arel.

Pricing varies depending on the type of treatment.

“A stem cell treatment involving 100 million stem cells costs approximately €20,000. That price includes all medical tests, hotel accommodations, and local transportation, while flights and meals are not included,” says Cem Arel.

Individuals who receive stem cell treatments through Age Back Co are enrolled in clinical trials and first undergo a medical screening process. The treatments are performed in Turkey and not in Sweden due to regulatory conditions.

Another brand within the group is Ideal of MeD, which focuses on hair transplantation and is also owned by Martin Lorentzon and Cem Arel, according to the latter. This part of the group is likewise based in Istanbul.

*Figures converted from SEK to USD at approximate exchange rates for context.

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