Slingshot AI has launched Ash, which the company calls the first AI specifically designed for therapy, available as a free app on iOS and Android. Ash runs on a specialized psychological model developed over 18 months and trained in three phases: learning from a large behavioral-health dataset (including CBT and DBT), clinical fine-tuning by Slingshot’s team, and reinforcement learning from conversation feedback. The company formed an Expert & Clinical Advisory Board with mental-health leaders such as Dr. Thomas Insel and Dr. Devika Bhushan to help ensure safety and clinical quality. Slingshot positions Ash as a tool to broaden access to evidence-informed mental-health support amid a large unmet need—the article cites that 59.2 million Americans sought therapy in 2023 and that 54% of people struggling with mental health don’t receive care. Leadership includes co-founder and CEO Daniel Cahn and co-founder and President Neil Parikh. Slingshot AI develops large‑language models focused on behavioral and mental health and partners with mental health providers worldwide to help them deliver support at scale. The company describes itself as an AI mental health research lab working to improve behavioral health through LLM technology. It plans to use new funding to expand operations and accelerate product and development efforts. Slingshot AI was founded in 2022 and operates out of New York and London. The company recently completed a sizable seed financing that it will deploy toward growth and R&D. No revenue or user metrics were disclosed in the article.

Total raised

$123M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Series A

Latest activity

Jul 2025