The market research industry is valued at $90 billion, helping brands present themselves better and attract potential customers. However, obtaining market insights is time-consuming and expensive. Based in Calgary, Canada, the startup Cashew Research aims to change this through artificial intelligence.
Cashew Research uses AI technology to develop market research plans and questionnaires for brands, customizing them to the information clients need, such as brand awareness among specific groups or the appeal of marketing slogans. After completing the questionnaire, Cashew compiles and summarizes the research findings into key insights.
Image source note: The image was generated by AI, and the image licensing service provider is Midjourney.
Cashew was selected as one of the 200 startups in the TechCrunch Startup Battlefield in 2025 and won the enterprise stage at TechCrunch Disrupt. Founder and CEO Addy Graves said that currently, the market research industry has limited options, either using large language models (LLMs) to get information or choosing expensive market research companies. Cashew fills the gap between these two, providing customers with customized and fresh data.
Graves has over ten years of experience in market research. The initial idea for Cashew came from a problem she encountered in her work: clients wanted comprehensive market research projects completed within just a few days and obtain real user data. For years, shortening the research time without compromising the quality of results has been a challenge until the emergence of artificial intelligence technology.
"This was our eureka moment," Graves said. With the maturity of AI technology, Cashew was able to automate the research process and report formatting, significantly improving efficiency while reducing costs, allowing small and medium-sized brands to also access market research services.
Cashew initially focused on consumer packaged goods, especially the food and beverage sectors. Graves believes that Cashew can stand out in the increasingly crowded AI marketing tools market because it is not fully automated, and each client project is based on real data combined with expertise in market research.
As the company grows, Cashew's competitive advantage will continue to strengthen. The company anonymizes the real data collected from customer projects and stores it in a database to provide additional unique data support for future research projects.
Cashew has successfully secured CAD 1.5 million in pre-seed funding and plans to launch a seed round financing in early 2026, aiming to raise USD 5 million, which will be used to continue developing the technical product. Graves pointed out that the focus for the next year will be expanding its market influence in the United States and strengthening B2B business.
"Those who are already purchasing market research represent a huge market, but there are still many potential customers who cannot conduct research due to cost and time constraints. We are actually creating a new category for marketing professionals, allowing them to get answers they couldn't previously obtain."
Key points:
🌟 Cashew Research reduces the cost and time of market research through AI technology, benefiting more brands.
📈 The company provides customized research services by using real data and expertise in market research.
💰 Cashew plans to start a seed round financing in 2026 to continue driving the development of its product technology.
