Neil Parikh

Neil Parikh, Co-Founder of Slingshot AI

Neil Parikh is the Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) of Slingshot AI, a startup focused on developing large language models for mental health applications. He co-founded the company in 2022 along with Daniel Cahn.23

Prior to Slingshot AI, Parikh co-founded Casper, a direct-to-consumer mattress company, where he served as Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer (COO) from 2014 to 2019.1 He also co-founded WaterWalla, a social enterprise that helped provide access to clean water technologies in urban slums, and Consignd, an e-commerce platform.1

Parikh holds a BA in Commerce, Organizations, and Entrepreneurship - Biotechnology from Brown University. He also completed one year at Brown University's Alpert Medical School before taking a leave of absence to pursue starting a company.1

In addition to his entrepreneurial experience, Parikh has a background in research, having worked as a Research Associate at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and as a researcher with the Brown iGEM team, where he helped develop a novel way of detecting toxins in water using bacterial sensors.1

Slingshot AI recently raised $30 million in a seed funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz, with additional investment from Menlo Ventures, valuing the company at over $220 million.34 The company aims to address the growing gap between mental health demand and available providers by leveraging AI technology to increase global access to mental healthcare.3