Mrs. Kijonková invested 420 thousand euros in Elin.ai through her family investment company JSK Investments. The startup has raised a total of one million euros from investors in the current investment round. “Moreover, the suicide rate is higher among young people than among middle-aged people for the first time in history, which is a warning signal of how urgent this issue is. I therefore consider the Elin.ai project, which can offer a truly accessible solution thanks to the use of artificial intelligence, to be key. The platform provides not only immediate personalized help, but also prevention and long-term support,” said Kijonková.
The Elin.ai app aims to help young people with their mental health in the social media environment. “Together, we are looking for ways to not go crazy at a time when we are all running on dopamine from likes and endless scrolling. We are looking for an antidote to hate speech and addiction to social media,” the company writes on its website. The app uses artificial intelligence to analyze the content of users’ social networks and advises them on how to respond to the content. The company developed the AI models together with psychiatrists.
“The investment from JSK will allow us to expand the app to foreign markets and strengthen our AI models, which will cover more and more mental problems that plague today’s Generation Z,” Hospodářské noviny quotes Elin.ai CEO Jan Romportl.
At the end of 2023, Kijonková, her husband and other partners sold Packeta Group, which also includes the Czech Zásilkovna, to the international fund CVC Capital and Jiří Šmejc’s Emma Capital, which was capital-backed by the R2G group. The couple Simona and Jaromír Kijonks earned over 4 billion CZK on the transaction thanks to their almost half-share in Packeta. Kijonková left the helm of Packeta in February this year.
She soon began making other investments. First and foremost, the JSK family office is investing in the development of the Alensa e-shop, which was founded by Kijonková’s husband Jaromír and which has become one of the European leaders in online sales. “Our family has been involved in optics for a long time. Jaromír has recently founded several brick-and-mortar opticians focused on ophthalmology, contact lenses, prescription glasses and sunglasses. We want to continue to develop this field and we also plan further investments in healthcare and technology, which we understand.”
In the fall, Kijonková decided to financially support the startup Kodu, which provides clients with so-called tiny houses, i.e. cheap and sustainable mini-houses. She is also a member of the Inspire&Impact Network platform, which creates a community for female professionals.
