Latest news with #NeilParikh
Forbes
22-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Can A Chatbot Be Your Therapist? Casper's Neil Parikh Launches A New $93 Million Startup To Try
Daniel Cahn (left) and Neil Parikh (right), cofounders of Slingshot AI. courtesy of slingshot N eil Parikh's first startup Casper made sleep easy—and even cool. The med school dropout used tech to help people buy mattresses with just a few clicks. Now he wants to make getting therapy just as simple. After turning the sleep brand into a billion-dollar business, the Forbes Under 30 alum is back with a new venture: Slingshot AI, a startup building a chatbot designed to replicate the experience of talking to a therapist. 'I never really thought about therapy,' Parikh told Forbes . 'Then I found a therapist who changed my life.' That's how it clicked for the entrepreneur. While millions struggle with mental health issues, access to care is staggeringly limited. 'We realized there's over 10,000 people who want care for every therapist that's out there,' he said. 'There was an opportunity for AI to actually help people in a new way.' On Tuesday, Slingshot officially launched its AI-powered therapy bot, called Ash, and announced a follow-on Series A round co-led by Radical Ventures and Forerunner Ventures, with participation from existing investors Andreessen Horowitz, Menlo Ventures and others. The round brings Slingshot's total funding to $93 million as it emerges from beta after being tested with more than 50,000 users. Parikh founded the startup with Daniel Cahn, a machine learning engineer who previously worked on AI tools for mental health in the UK. Unlike general purpose models like ChatGPT—which pull data from the internet—Ash was developed in collaboration with clinicians and trained specifically on behavioral health data. It doesn't offer advice or try to diagnose, but is instead designed to guide users more through self-reflection, similar to how a therapist might prompt deeper thinking. Andreessen Horowitz's a16z was quick to back the entrepreneur. Daisy Wolf, partner at the firm, said they'd been actively looking for a startup bringing AI into the mental health space, handing Slingshot a term sheet as soon as the team was ready to raise. 'They have the experience and know how to pull this off. They've been absolute magnets for talent, and the caliber of people they've been able to recruit has continued to blow us away,' Wolf said. Parikh was 22 when he dropped out of medical school to build Casper. The company wasn't the first to sell mattresses online, but it was the first to become a household name with mattress-in-a-box convenience and a wellness-focused message that turned sleep into a lifestyle. Celebrity endorsements and subway ads helped build the brand amongst a younger audience. Parikh went all in and even co-authored a book on sleep. Casper went public in 2020 at $12 a share—below its target range—and returned to private ownership two years later. He stepped down in 2021 and fully exited the board after the sale. Since then, he's invested in more than 150 startups, many tied to mental health. Now back in the founder seat, he says building from the ground up is both daunting and exciting. 'Every part of this business is really challenging when you think about it. You have to build a large scale data set through partnerships. You have to build a team that knows how to train AI models. You actually have to learn how to train the models,' he said. The burning question: Can a chatbot really compare to a human therapist? Though the concept of AI therapy might seem experimental, early evidence suggests it could have real potential. At Dartmouth College, researchers developed and tested their own chatbot therapist called Therabot. In a trial of more than 100 people with mental health conditions, all improved. Those with depression saw a 51% symptom drop on average. Nicholas Jacobson, one of the clinicians behind Therabot, said chatbots can offer several advantages over traditional care, including cost, convenience and 24/7 availability. Even individuals who had not previously responded to therapy saw significant improvement with Therabot. "A full caseload is about 26-and-a-half patients a week for a practicing therapist,' he said. 'They will see their patients generally once a week in outpatient settings for about 45 minutes.' In that case, why not use the widely popular generative AI models like ChatGPT or Google's Gemini? While these models are incredibly advanced, they aren't designed specifically for mental health care, Jacobson said, and can be potentially harmful. At Dartmouth, this meant researchers had to build their own data from scratch. At Slingshot, it means partnering directly with clinicians—and using that $93 million to build a better data pipeline. And, Parikh adds, general models can be somewhat of yes-men. 'You want them to appropriately push back on you. That's a core part of self growth.' Courtesy of Slingshot Still, not everyone is convinced chatbots can handle mental health responsibly. Critics have raised concerns about safety and privacy. Slingshot says it's proactively addressing these issues by working with a clinical advisory board. Ash, for example, redirects users experiencing a serious crisis to human professionals. This time around, the serial entrepreneur (who's gone to plenty of therapy since) wants to keep the company lean and mission-driven. For its initial launch, Ash will be available for free to users, and Parikh imagines rolling out a subscription model priced similarly to Netflix. In the future, there may be avenues for Ash to be available via employers or insurance. In the meantime, Parikh says he isn't trying to reinvent therapy, but hoping Ash might just help more people start it. 'Doing anything that nobody's done before means that you have to figure out a lot of new things,' he said. 'It's a lot of unknown nodes, but it's also cool because every day we get to wake up and get feedback from people who say this is incredible and their lives changed.'
Time of India
22-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
14 equity mutual funds lost over 5% in 9 months. Have you parked your savings in any of them?
Around 14 equity mutual funds have lost over 5% in the last nine months, an analysis by ETMutualFunds showed. The analysis covered 275 funds, excluding sectoral and thematic categories. The top two losers during this period were both flexi cap funds: Samco Flexi Cap Fund declined 12.59%, while Shriram Flexi Cap Fund fell 10.02%. Best MF to invest Looking for the best mutual funds to invest? Here are our recommendations. View Details » by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 3BHK Transformation Possible for ₹4.5 Lakh? HomeLane Get Quote Undo Also Read | MF Tracker: Will Invesco India PSU Equity Fund shine again after topping 3-year charts? Shriram ELSS Tax Saver Fund, an ELSS fund, gave a negative return of 9.39% in the last nine months, followed by Motilal Oswal Focused Fund, which gave a negative return of 8.45% in the said time period. Live Events The next two funds were also flexi cap funds. NJ Flexi Cap Fund and JM Flexicap Fund offered a negative return of 7.27% and 7.23%, respectively, in the said time period. The next four funds in the list were from Quant Mutual Fund. Quant ELSS Tax Saver Fund, Quant Multi Cap Fund , Quant Large & Mid Cap Fund, and Quant Mid Cap Fund delivered a negative return of 6.66%, 6.09%, 6.07%, and 6.05%, respectively, in the above-mentioned time period. Samco ELSS Tax Saver Fund and Baroda BNP Paribas Value Fund offered a negative return of 5.67% and 5.50%, respectively, in the mentioned period. And lastly, JM Focused Fund and Quant Flexi Cap Fund lost 5.21% and 5.05%, respectively, in the same time period. There were 275 funds, of which 123 gave negative returns in the last nine months, 150 gave positive returns, and two gave zero return. Quant Flexi Cap Fund delivered a negative return of 4.87% in the same period, and Quant Small Cap Fund offered a negative return of 3.19% in the same time period. LIC MF Midcap Fund lost the lowest, around 0.01%, in the similar period. Positive performers Motilal Oswal Multi Cap Fund and Invesco India Midcap Fund delivered double-digit returns of 14.05% and 10.75%, respectively, over the last nine months. Also Read | Can PPFAS Flexi Cap Fund handle Rs 1 lakh crore money? CEO Neil Parikh explains Parag Parikh Flexi Cap Fund, the largest active flexi cap fund based on assets under management, gave a 5.37% return in the same period. Quantum Value Fund was the last one to deliver a positive return of 0.02% in the same period. We considered equity mutual funds, excluding sectoral and thematic funds. We considered regular and growth options, and calculated performance for the last nine months. Note: The above exercise is not a recommendation. It was conducted to identify which equity mutual funds lost over 5% in the last nine months. One should not make investment or redemption decisions based solely on this exercise. One should always consider risk appetite, investment horizon, and financial goals before making any investment decisions.
Time of India
22-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Every 4th rupee in mutual funds belong to retail investors, HNIs own 1/3rd AUM: Franklin Templeton India MF
Individual investors account for over 61% of total mutual fund assets under management (AUM), with retail accounting for 27.01% and HNIs 33.67% of that. Individual investors' AUM grew 8x in 10 years vs 6x AUM growth of the industry, according to a press note by Franklin Templeton India Mutual Fund on the development in the Indian mutual funds industry. As per the press note, the SIP average ticket size moved higher in June 2025 to Rs 2,966. Talking about segments, the passive fund folios have grown by 17x in the last five years. And lastly, the sectoral/ thematic funds category witnessed highest gross/net sales over the last 12 months. Explore courses from Top Institutes in Please select course: Select a Course Category Operations Management Digital Marketing MCA Healthcare Project Management Management Finance Product Management Others Data Analytics Public Policy others PGDM CXO Data Science Data Science Technology Leadership MBA Artificial Intelligence Cybersecurity healthcare Degree Design Thinking Skills you'll gain: Quality Management & Lean Six Sigma Analytical Tools Supply Chain Management & Strategies Service Operations Management Duration: 10 Months IIM Lucknow IIML Executive Programme in Strategic Operations Management & Supply Chain Analytics Starts on Jan 27, 2024 Get Details Also Read | MF Tracker: Will Invesco India PSU Equity Fund shine again after topping 3-year charts? Best MF to invest Looking for the best mutual funds to invest? Here are our recommendations. View Details » Individual investors Out of the total AUM, individual investors now account for almost 61% of AUM, with retail investors at 27.01% and HNIs at 33.67% of that. Corporates account for 37.14% of AUM, the rest are Banks at 2.13% and FIIs/FPIs at 0.05%. Live Events The investor category wise allocation in AUM, equity funds accounts for around 55% of total AUM. Individual investors' AUM The industry witnessed high growth in terms of individual investors' share in total AUM. The individual Investors' AUM grew nearly 8x in 10 years vs nearly 6x AUM growth of the industry. The industry AUM grew by 24% CAGR in the last five years and 20% CAGR in the last 10 years respectively, ending in June 2025. The five years CAGR for individual investors was at 23% PA vs industry AUM at 24% PA over five years. In terms of 10 years CAGR of the individual investors stood at 23% PA vs Industry AUM at 20% PA over 10 years. Individual vs institutional – Asset composition Almost 87% of individual investor assets are held in equity-oriented schemes. Debt oriented schemes account for 8%, ETFs/FoF at 3% and the remaining 2% in liquid/money market instruments. On the other hand institutional assets are spread across Liquid/Money market instruments at 28%, Debt oriented schemes at 25%, ETFs/FoFs at 28% and only 19% of assets in equity oriented schemes. Also Read | Can PPFAS Flexi Cap Fund handle Rs 1 lakh crore money? CEO Neil Parikh explains Average SIP ticket size rises The SIP average ticket size moved higher in June 2025 to Rs 2,966, just near the Rs 3,000 mark. The average SIP ticket size is well above the pre-COVID levels of Rs 2,861, which was recorded in December 2019. Mutual funds are now a dominant force vs FPIs. Net inflows for DIIs were Rs 6.5 lakh crore for the last 12 months (till June 2025) vs net outflows of Rs 3.0 lakh crore for FPIs. Passive fund folios have grown 17x in last 5 years The passive fund AUM hit an all-time high of Rs 12.33 lakh crore in June 2025, growth of 21% YoY. The share of passive AUM has risen to around 10% of total AUM in June 2021 to 17% in June 2025. Sectoral/thematic witness high traction The sectoral/thematic funds category witnessed highest gross/net sales over the last 12 months. While most equity categories witnessed positive net sales in June 2025, the sectoral/thematic fund category received the highest traction. It received Rs 9,634 crore worth of gross sales, redemptions of Rs 9,158 crore, thereby the final net sales of Rs 476 crore. In the last 12 months the net sales were to the tune of Rs 1.04 lakh crore.
Economic Times
22-07-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
Every 4th rupee in mutual funds belong to retail investors, HNIs own 1/3rd AUM: Franklin Templeton India MF
Indian individual investors now manage 61% of mutual fund assets, with significant growth over the past decade. Individual investors account for over 61% of total mutual fund assets under management (AUM), with retail accounting for 27.01% and HNIs 33.67% of that. Individual investors' AUM grew 8x in 10 years vs 6x AUM growth of the industry, according to a press note by Franklin Templeton India Mutual Fund on the development in the Indian mutual funds industry. As per the press note, the SIP average ticket size moved higher in June 2025 to Rs 2,966. Talking about segments, the passive fund folios have grown by 17x in the last five years. And lastly, the sectoral/ thematic funds category witnessed highest gross/net sales over the last 12 months. Also Read | MF Tracker: Will Invesco India PSU Equity Fund shine again after topping 3-year charts? Individual investors Out of the total AUM, individual investors now account for almost 61% of AUM, with retail investors at 27.01% and HNIs at 33.67% of that. Corporates account for 37.14% of AUM, the rest are Banks at 2.13% and FIIs/FPIs at 0.05%. The investor category wise allocation in AUM, equity funds accounts for around 55% of total AUM. The industry witnessed high growth in terms of individual investors' share in total AUM. The individual Investors' AUM grew nearly 8x in 10 years vs nearly 6x AUM growth of the industry. The industry AUM grew by 24% CAGR in the last five years and 20% CAGR in the last 10 years respectively, ending in June 2025. The five years CAGR for individual investors was at 23% PA vs industry AUM at 24% PA over five years. In terms of 10 years CAGR of the individual investors stood at 23% PA vs Industry AUM at 20% PA over 10 years. Almost 87% of individual investor assets are held in equity-oriented schemes. Debt oriented schemes account for 8%, ETFs/FoF at 3% and the remaining 2% in liquid/money market instruments. On the other hand institutional assets are spread across Liquid/Money market instruments at 28%, Debt oriented schemes at 25%, ETFs/FoFs at 28% and only 19% of assets in equity oriented schemes. Also Read | Can PPFAS Flexi Cap Fund handle Rs 1 lakh crore money? CEO Neil Parikh explains The SIP average ticket size moved higher in June 2025 to Rs 2,966, just near the Rs 3,000 mark. The average SIP ticket size is well above the pre-COVID levels of Rs 2,861, which was recorded in December 2019. Mutual funds are now a dominant force vs FPIs. Net inflows for DIIs were Rs 6.5 lakh crore for the last 12 months (till June 2025) vs net outflows of Rs 3.0 lakh crore for passive fund AUM hit an all-time high of Rs 12.33 lakh crore in June 2025, growth of 21% YoY. The share of passive AUM has risen to around 10% of total AUM in June 2021 to 17% in June 2025. The sectoral/thematic funds category witnessed highest gross/net sales over the last 12 months. While most equity categories witnessed positive net sales in June 2025, the sectoral/thematic fund category received the highest traction. It received Rs 9,634 crore worth of gross sales, redemptions of Rs 9,158 crore, thereby the final net sales of Rs 476 crore. In the last 12 months the net sales were to the tune of Rs 1.04 lakh crore.
Economic Times
22-07-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
Can PPFAS Flexi Cap Fund handle Rs 1 lakh crore money? CEO Neil Parikh explains
PPFAS Mutual Fund addresses concerns about managing a large AUM, emphasizing that stock limits apply at the fund level, not the scheme level. One should always look at the fund-level Assets Under Management (AUM) and not the scheme-level AUM, as individual stock limits are applicable at the fund level, not at the scheme level, said Neil Parikh, Chairman and CEO of PPFAS Mutual Fund, while responding to questions on how the fund will handle a large AUM and whether they can continue delivering the same kind of CEO posted on social media platform X that, 'How will they handle such a large AUM? Look at fund level AUM and not scheme level AUM as individual stock limits are at fund level, not scheme. So the best stock idea can have good allocation in one scheme instead of allocating the same idea in multiple schemes- basically dilute your best idea with multiple equity schemes. Our overall equity AUM is still less than 5% market share of total MF equity AUM. So this is not a concern. What will change is that there will be a longer tail of small cap stocks so the number of stocks may increase over time. Can they continue delivering the same kind of returns with all this new money? - Only time will tell' How will they handle such a large AUM? - look at fund level AUM and not scheme level AUM as individual stock limits are at fund level, not scheme. So the best stock idea can have good allocation in one scheme instead of allocating the same idea in multiple schemes- basically… — NEIL PARIKH (@npparikh6) July 21, 2025 Also Read | MF Tracker: Will Invesco India PSU Equity Fund shine again after topping 3-year charts? Neil believes that the fund house's best stock ideas can be given adequate allocation in a single scheme, rather than spreading the same idea across multiple schemes—essentially diluting it with several equity fund house also pointed out that its overall equity AUM remains under 5% of the total equity AUM of the mutual fund industry, indicating there is still significant room to grow and that this is not a CEO added that what will change is the inclusion of more small-cap stocks, leading to a higher number of holdings over time. As for whether the fund house can continue to deliver the same level of returns with this new influx of money, the response was: only time will tell. This post by Neil Parikh came in response to a concern raised by an investor who has been investing in the PPFAS Flexi Cap Fund for the past five to six years. In response to another query regarding SEBI's new categorisation and rationalisation norms and whether PPFAS would consider launching a second scheme in the same category, Neil said, 'We will continue with one fund… not in favor of adding more complexities.'When asked how much the US exposure helped the Flexi Cap Fund, Parikh explained that foreign exposure helps lower portfolio volatility and provides downside protection. 'Overseas portfolio returns have been similar to or slightly lower than the Indian portfolio since inception,' he added. Also Read | Mutual funds slashes cash allocation by Rs 13,000 crore in June; PPFAS and Quant MF join trend In May, the CEO informed the investors that the fund has crossed Rs 1 lakh AUM and is the first actively managed scheme to do so in India. Based on the last available portfolio (June 2025), it had an AUM of Rs 1.10 lakh crore from Rs 1.03 lakh crore in May. According to June data, PPFAS Mutual Fund had Rs 23,598 crore cash in its kitty which was 21.62% of the total AUM. The fund house had an equity AUM of Rs 93,171 crore. (Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of the Economic Times)
