We exist because
this work matters.

nest is a registered foundation connecting the people building the future of mental health. We started as a grassroots community for people passionate about digital mental health and have grown into a structured ecosystem for serious builders.

We exist because meaningful innovation should not happen in isolation. Our curated community ensures that new solutions reach the people who need them, while founders and researchers gain the support, connections and insights needed to navigate this complex landscape.

Participation is free during our founding period, because access to this kind of community should not be a privilege.

Founder

Valerie Peterson

Founder & Executive Director

Founder and Executive Director at nest, a global industry foundation advancing accessible, inclusive, and responsible digital mental health solutions. We connect founders, innovators, and experts across the digital mental health ecosystem while sharing industry research and insights daily.

Why nest

nest started with two things that arrived at different times but eventually pointed in the same direction.

The first was personal. Watching someone I love navigate a serious brain disorder showed me, more clearly than any study could, how wide the gap is between what people need and what the system is able to give them. It is a gap that does not have to be as large as it is.

The second was a master's thesis on digital health and AI implementation. The more I read, the more one thing became obvious: the tools are developing fast, but the people building them are largely working alone. Researchers, founders, and clinicians who should be in conversation with each other are not, because nothing has made that easy enough.

nest is the thing I wished had existed. We are glad you found us. 🪺

nestmentalhealthtech.com

Where the field
comes together.

A curated list of upcoming conferences, summits and gatherings at the intersection of mental health and innovation. Want your event featured? Get in touch.

What we are
watching closely.

A weekly digest of the developments, research and moves that matter in digital mental health. We track the field so you do not have to start from scratch.

What we are
watching closely.

The nest blog covers the developments, research and conversations that matter most to the people building in mental health. Verified, direct and written for people who take this work seriously.

June 2026 · Evidence & Design

Designing for Wellbeing, Not Engagement: What the Evidence Actually Says

92 randomised controlled trials. No significant association between persuasive design features and clinical outcomes. What the research says about what actually works.

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June 2026 · Neuroscience & Design

The Hijacked Brain: What Digital Overwhelm Is Actually Doing to Mental Health

The average person now spends seven to ten hours a day on screens. The neuroscience of what this does to the brain, and what it means for everyone building in mental health.

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June 2026 · AI & Safety

When General-Purpose AI Becomes the First Stop for Emotional Support

19% of young people in the US now use general-purpose AI chatbots for emotional support. What this shift means for builders, clinicians, and the field.

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May 2026 · Evidence

The Evidence Gap Nobody Talks About

Most mental health apps are built without a published evidence base. This is not a scandal. It is a structural problem, and understanding the difference matters for everyone building in this space.

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May 2026 · Community

You Cannot Innovate Alone

The research on isolation is unambiguous. Meaningful work in digital mental health requires connection, not as a feel-good addition to serious work, but as a structural condition for doing it well.

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May 2026 · Evidence & Research

AI & Mental Health Apps: What the Evidence Shows

Digital mental health tools show real signal. But moderate effect sizes in controlled trials, combined with engagement rates that collapse in real-world settings, mean that what works in a study often does not hold in a person's daily life.

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Feb 25 · Research

DMHI for University Students

Up to 60% of young adults may meet diagnostic criteria for depression or anxiety. We explore how digital mental health interventions are changing that.

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Feb 23 · AI & Work

AI and Workplace Wellbeing

Artificial intelligence is reshaping how organisations approach employee wellbeing — from early burnout detection to personalised support.

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Feb 17 · Product

How to Improve Mental Health Apps?

A systematic analysis of 111 articles examines why sustained engagement in mobile mental health apps remains difficult — and what builders can do about it.

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Feb 10 · Ethics & AI

AI in Mental Health: Benefits, Risks & Ethics

As AI enters mental health care, new questions around bias, privacy, and accountability demand serious attention.

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We believe the mental health
crisis is also a systems crisis.

One billion people are living with a mental health condition right now. Thirteen mental health workers exist for every hundred thousand people on the planet. Governments have held mental health spending at 2% of health budgets for nearly a decade.

The system was never going to close this gap. And placing all our bets on it has cost us years.

What's actually making a change is happening outside the formal system. In workplaces, in communities, in the hands of founders and clinicians who stopped waiting for policy to catch up. Not because they're optimistic. Because they understand the problem well enough to know that waiting is its own kind of failure.

We started nest because we kept meeting these people and watching them work in isolation. Brilliant founders who couldn't find their peers. Researchers whose work never reached the builders who needed it. Clinicians who wanted to shape digital tools but had no seat at the table.

We believe that meaningful innovation should not happen in isolation. That the tools matter, but the science matters more, and neither travels far without the right ecosystem around them.

nest is not a cheerleader for digital health as a concept. We are not here to amplify every headline or celebrate every product launch. We are here to sit with the people who are honest about how hard this actually is — and who are building anyway.

"We exist to make sure the right people find each other, before the work that could change things gets lost in the noise."

Participation is free during our founding period because access to this kind of community should not be a privilege. We are deliberately keeping the community small, curated and high-quality as we grow.

If this is the space you operate in, we would love to have you.