Ukrainian startup Elomia Health has acquired the American AI companion Earkick with 250,000 users

Ukrainian startup Elomia Health has signed an agreement to acquire the American Earkick — an AI-based emotional support service used by over 250,000 people. The app allows tracking mood changes, sleep quality, physical activity level, and daily habits.

As part of the agreement, Elomia Health gains access to Earkick's AI models, as well as to updated versions of the Mia21 memory technology developed by the American startup's team. This is stated in the press release.

Currently, Elomia Health is focusing on developing the B2B direction and provides an API through which medical institutions, employers, and educational institutions can integrate AI chatbots for emotional support into their own products.

"We strive to help organizations launch safe AI solutions for emotional support that people will actually use. The Earkick team has already developed technology that takes into account a person's state and its changes over time. We combine it with our models and safety mechanisms to reduce the risk of excessive dependence on AI," commented Taras Pohrebniak, founder and CEO of Elomia Health, on the agreement.

Earkick was founded in 2021 by Herbert Bay (one of the developers of the SURF computer vision algorithm) and Karin Andrea Stephan. The service provides users with personalized prompts based on analysis of their daily habits.

"Our mission is to make psychological support more personalized and accessible. Taras was one of the first to start using large language models in this field. He built a company that shares our vision and pays attention to safety," noted Herbert Bay, co-founder and CEO of Earkick.

Taras Pohrebniak founded Elomia Health in 2019 as an R&D laboratory to research the possibilities of applying large language models (LLMs) in the field of mental health. The effectiveness and safety of the company's technologies were analyzed in several scientific studies, including with the participation of the University of Pennsylvania. The startup later transformed from a B2C app into an API platform for organizations.