We all might need some help with our mental health. I used Ash and was blown away by how helpful it was at 2 AM. It remembered our conversations, and even challenged me, providing valuable insights. Isn't it crazy how AI can make us feel more human?
We're thrilled to introduce Ash: the first AI designed for therapy. This is deeply personal to us. We've struggled, tried to get help, and realized that most of us have the same problem. We decided to train a new foundation model for psychology and build Ash on top of it as a way of helping a lot more people.
We raised $93M from a16z, Felicis, Radical, Forerunner, TMV, and many mission aligned investors to help us do this the right way.
🧠 Why AI therapy built differently matters
Most AI assistants validate everything you say and give you the answer you want. That's great for productivity, terrible for growth. Therapy pushes you to see things differently.
Here's what makes Ash different:
Trained on therapy, not just the internet. Ash is built on our foundation model for psychology, which was trained on clinically relevant data. It’s learned from every approach — CBT, DBT, psychodynamic, you name it. When you talk to Ash, you're getting collective therapeutic wisdom, not generic advice.
It won't always agree with you. When you say "I'm angry," ChatGPT says "I'm sorry you're feeling that way." Ash might ask "Why is anger a bad thing?" Ash can create productive friction that leads to breakthroughs.
Learns what actually helps you. Through reinforcement learning, Ash pays attention to what creates real change — not just what makes you feel good in the moment. It notices when you open up, when you have insights, when you actually follow through on goals.
✨ What people are experiencing:
"Definitely something everyone should try. Only used two times so far and already it has brightened my inner flame that has almost completely burned out."
"I just wanted to tell you all thank you one more time... I've decided to go back to school to get my doctorate in psychology. Thanks to you guys for this, I'm learning how to become the best version of me… Thank you for changing and saving my life."
"We solved a problem I have been dealing with for a week in 5 minutes."
🎯 The details that matter:
Voice or text: Sometimes you need to talk it out, sometimes you need to write. You can pick.
Different styles: Ash can adapt styles to figure out what works for you
Remembers what you say: Ash remembers what you say between sessions so you don’t have to repeat yourself.
Weekly insights: See your patterns and progress over time
Actually private: Your data stays encrypted, and only opt-in anonymized data is used for improvements
🌍 Our mission:
There are 10,000 people for every therapist. Waiting lists stretch a year. Even if you find someone, there's no guarantee they'll understand your background, share your values, or fit your budget. And honestly? Most people only ever make it to one therapy session.
We're not replacing human therapists. We're creating a new modality of care that's available 24/7 and learns what works for you.
The team: We were founded by machine learning engineer Daniel Cahn (started coding at 8, AI research in mental health at Imperial) and me (co-founded Casper, helped millions sleep better, and then realized I wanted to improve my own, and many others' mental health).
We've had 50,000 people in our beta, and today, we're opening up to Product Hunt.!
Mental health isn't a 10% problem — it's an everyone problem. If you've ever thought "maybe I should talk to someone" but didn't know where to start, Ash is here.
Give it a try and let us know what you think. We read every piece of feedback (seriously, ask our beta users 😅).
You guys are awesome! I just tried Ash, I had therapy for 10 years but Ash'es experience felt much better... Also as a designer, kudos to your design team :) Great work
Affordable, approachable, and still feels pro - love what you're building here!
One thing I love about this is the fact that it doesn't do things that pleases you in the moment but what you really need.
Good job 👍
Just upvoted! 🚀
Love how Ash isn’t just another friendly chatbot! The balance of emotional support and productive friction is so well thought out.
Also really impressed by the focus on privacy and context continuity. Feels like a real step forward in AI for mental health 🙌
Really impressed by how Ash takes a therapy-first approach instead of relying on general internet data. Building AI on actual therapeutic models feels like a meaningful leap forward. Curious to see how it performs in real-life emotional scenarios!
First off, congrats on your launch!
As AI emerged, it is exciting to see how this space is evolving. When the tool can feel truly personalized, especially with its ability to remember personal history, I think there will be a great demand for this product. Therapies are often expensive and out of reach for many, so I’m eager to see how this could help make mental health support more accessible!
This is such a thoughtful use of AI. The idea of an always-available AI therapist feels like a lifeline for those tough late-night moments. Great job, team!
AI for therapy sounds convenient,having someone to talk to 24/7 really hits the spot. But it just feels like it’s missing that human warmth. No matter how good the AI is, it can’t quite match the genuine feel of a real person.
Huge congrats on the launch, Neil and Daniel! The mission behind Ash is so vital, addressing a massive gap in mental health accessibility. It's impressive how much thought has gone into training the model and user privacy. Given the sensitive nature of these conversations, what specific support or escalation paths are available for users who might experience very severe distress while interacting with Ash? 🌍🔒
We're all drowning in information these days, and constantly switching contexts means things inevitably slip through the cracks. Ash seems like exactly what we need in this 'Do more with less' era. Congrats on the launch!
I have been using the app for a few days now. Impressed with the answers. Its to early to tell if it will help me. But for sure better than betterhelp that charges $100 a week
