Ki elements

What Ki elements does

ki:elements GmbH is a German digital health company founded in 2017 as a spin-off of the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI). The company develops AI-driven speech biomarkers that extract acoustic, prosodic, and linguistic features from voice recordings to detect, screen for, and monitor neurological, psychiatric, and respiratory conditions including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, ALS, schizophrenia, depression, and COPD. Its underlying technology combines automatic speech recognition, natural language processing, and machine learning classifiers, with extraction of 70-100+ features per analysis validated following the DiMe V3 Framework.

The company's primary commercial product is the Speech Biomarker for Cognition (SB-C), a digital cognitive assessment validated against cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers (amyloid-beta at AUC 0.74, phosphorylated tau-181 at AUC 0.82 across 736 European participants) and used as a pre-screening tool in Alzheimer's clinical trials, achieving 99.3% compliance over 17,792 assessments in the Johnson & Johnson RETAIN Phase 2b trial. Three additional biomarkers extend the platform: SB-M (motor function) for Parkinson's, ALS, and related disorders; SB-E (emotion and motivation) for schizophrenia, MDD, and PTSD; and SB-R (respiratory function) for COPD, asthma, IPF, and lung cancer. Delivery is handled through the Mili platform, which supports data collection via mobile app, automated phone calls, and assisted phone modalities, with a web-based study management interface (Mili Kokpit) and ISO 13485:2016, FDA 21 CFR Part 11 and Part 820.70, and GDPR compliance.

ki:elements operates an enterprise B2B model, generating revenue through per-study and subscription-style contracts with pharmaceutical sponsors and licensing of the Mili platform to research institutions. Named customers include Johnson & Johnson (RETAIN trial), Roche (multi-site Alzheimer's screening and TRAVELLER study), AC Immune, Davos Alzheimer's Collaborative, and academic partners such as DZNE, University of Cologne, University of Edinburgh, and Maastricht University. The company is privately held, headquartered in Saarbrücken, Germany, with no disclosed funding rounds or revenue figures in source materials.

Name

Ki elements

Legal name

ki:elements GmbH

Website

https://ki-elements.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

ki:elements GmbH is a German AI-driven digital health company that develops speech-based biomarkers for screening and monitoring Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, schizophrenia, and respiratory disorders, sold to pharmaceutical sponsors and research institutions for clinical trial deployment.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

NAICS

Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, and Control Instruments Manufacturing (33451)

SIC

In Vitro & In Vivo Diagnostic Substances (2835)

akta.pro primary industry

Neurology RPM (epilepsy, Parkinson’s, MS monitoring) (HLALAFAJ)

Keywords

• Speech biomarkers
• Digital cognitive assessment
• Alzheimer's clinical trials
• AI speech analysis
• Remote patient monitoring

Headquarters

HQ city

Saarbrücken

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Revenue model

1. Clinical trial biomarker deployment: Provides SB-C and other speech biomarkers as pre-screening and monitoring tools in pharmaceutical clinical trials. Revenue derived from per-assessment or per-study contracts with pharma sponsors conducting AD and CNS trials.
2. Platform licensing (Mili): Licenses the Mili platform (App, Phone, Kokpit) to pharmaceutical companies and research institutions for remote speech data collection in clinical studies.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Ki elements develops AI-driven speech biomarker software (the Mili Platform and four biomarkers SB-C, SB-M, SB-E, SB-R) that remotely measures cognitive, motor, emotional, and respiratory symptoms from speech recordings for use in pharmaceutical clinical trials and clinical research. The platform is delivered as a configurable digital solution via mobile app, automated phone call, or assisted phone, with no hardware or app installation required.

Product overview

Ki elements is a digital health company specializing in AI-driven speech assessments. The core product is the Mili Platform, a configurable digital solution for remote speech data collection in clinical research. The platform supports three delivery modes: Mili App (mobile), Mili Phone (automated/assisted telephone), and Mili Kokpit (web-based study management). Built on this platform are four speech biomarkers: SB-C (Cognition) is the primary product, a validated digital cognitive assessment for Alzheimer's trials; SB-E (Emotion & Motivation) targets psychiatry applications; SB-M (Motor Function) serves neurology/movement disorders; and SB-R (Respiratory Function) addresses pulmonary conditions. The company pioneered disease-agnostic speech biomarkers where one biomarker serves multiple pathologies through symptom-level measurement.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Mili Platform: A highly configurable digital solution for the design, administration, and remote conduction of studies collecting speech in medicine and pharmacy. Includes Mili App, Mili Phone (Automated and Assisted), and Mili Kokpit for researchers.
• SB-C (Speech Biomarker for Cognition)
• SB-M (Speech Biomarker for Motor Function)
• SB-E (Speech Biomarker for Emotion & Motivation)
• SB-R (Speech Biomarker for Respiratory Function)

Quantifiable outcome

• AUC of 0.74 for amyloid-beta positivity classification via automated phone call across 5 European cohorts (736 participants)
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability5 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• University of EdinburghcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 October 2022SPeAK (Speech on the Phone Assessment) study collaboration validating psychometric properties of SB-C in early Alzheimer's. Prof. Craig Ritchie, Chair of Psychiatry of Ageing and Director of Centre for Dementia Prevention at University of Edinburgh, served as PI.
• Maastricht UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 October 2022DeepSpA study collaboration validating SB-C psychometric properties in early Alzheimer's. Part of Dutch dementia research program.
• Johnson & JohnsoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPhase 2b RETAIN trial collaboration evaluating safety and effectiveness of an investigational medicine for early Alzheimer's Disease. ki:elements provides SB-C speech biomarker as pre-screening tool. Participants complete SB-C via automated phone call using the Mili platform. Study enrolled 17,792 participants with 99.3% compliance rate.
• RochecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal multi-site screening study to assess participants' potential eligibility for Roche's Alzheimer studies. Also TRAVELLER study — pre-screening in AD pharma trials. ki:elements SB-C deployed to assess participant potential for Roche interventional studies.
• DZNE (German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPROSA study — multicenter prospective observational study to develop and validate a new prognostic language biomarker for the ALS-FTD spectrum based on repeatable, short, high-frequency speech assessments collected remotely.
• University of ColognecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerT01 project — development of an algorithm reliably detecting clinically relevant speech changes in Parkinson's disease. Part of SFB 1252 collaborative research center.
• Davos Alzheimer's CollaborativecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal initiative deploying Speech Biomarker for Cognition (SB-C) in both large clinical trial sites and remote locations. Global Cohorts project as part of DAC's cohort development program.
• ADDF (Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPROSPECT-AD consortium funded in part by ADDF's investments supporting innovative Alzheimer's research. Project aims to scale speech-based cognitive tests conducted over phone to screen and monitor preclinical Alzheimer's Disease.
• AC Immune SAcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with Johnson & Johnson on phosphorylated tau-targeted active immunotherapy (RETAIN trial). ki:elements SB-C used as pre-screening companion diagnostic alongside blood-based p217+tau assay developed by Johnson & Johnson on the Quanterix platform.
• IQVIAminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorFeatured as a top player in clinical research and pharmaceutical industry collaboration on ki:elements website, suggesting IQVIA is part of their collaborator/integrator network for clinical research services.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Market position

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/kielements
• Xx.com/ki_elements

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Ki elements