Writing for Forerunner Ventures, partner Nicole Johnson lays out why the firm backed Slingshot AI. She frames Ash as a "new modality for psychological support," built on a purpose-built foundation model trained on behavioral health data rather than a general-purpose LLM, drawing on established frameworks like CBT, DBT, ACT, and psychodynamic therapy. Johnson points to early traction: roughly 50,000 beta users acquired organically, average sessions of 25 to 35 minutes, and 90% reporting meaningful breakthroughs or progress. She situates Ash against a stark access gap, with around 500,000 licensed behavioral health providers serving the 56 million Americans who sought therapy in 2022. The piece highlights Slingshot's founders, including machine-learning lead Daniel Cahn, Casper co-founder Neil Parikh, and clinical head Dr. Derrick Hull, formerly of Talkspace, as central to building therapeutic alliances at scale.