Cashew Research: AI-Powered Market Research | Disrupting the $90B Industry

Revolutionizing Market Research with Artificial Intelligence

The market research sector, currently valued at $90 billion, provides crucial insights for brands seeking to effectively connect with their target audiences. However, obtaining these insights traditionally involves significant expense and considerable time investment. Cashew Research is aiming to disrupt this established model through the application of AI.

Cashew's Innovative Approach

Based in Calgary, Alberta, Cashew leverages AI to formulate tailored market research strategies and surveys for businesses. These are designed to gather specific information, such as brand awareness within a defined demographic or the effectiveness of a new marketing slogan. Surveys are then distributed to a panel of real participants, and the resulting data is analyzed and summarized using advanced AI algorithms.

Cashew’s innovative approach gained significant recognition in 2025, earning the company a place among 200 selected startups at TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield competition. Furthermore, they secured victory in the Enterprise Stage pitch competition at TechCrunch Disrupt.

Addressing a Gap in the Market

“Currently, options range from utilizing Large Language Models (LLMs) for research – which can be limited – to engaging expensive traditional firms,” explains Addy Graves, co-founder and CEO of Cashew, in an interview with TechCrunch. “Cashew offers a middle ground, generating custom, current data to address specific inquiries, rather than relying on LLMs that often recirculate readily available online information.”

Graves brings over ten years of experience in the market research field to Cashew. The company’s inception stemmed from a recurring challenge she observed: clients frequently requested comprehensive research projects, grounded in real-world human data, with extremely short turnaround times.

Previously, fulfilling these demands while maintaining research quality proved impossible due to technological limitations. The necessary tools for accelerating the process were simply not yet available.

The Power of Automation

“This realization was a pivotal moment,” Graves states. “It wasn’t until the advent of AI that we could effectively automate the processes researchers employ, incorporating established best practices and data science methodologies, alongside the report formatting that clients expect.”

Automating these processes also leads to reduced costs, making Cashew accessible to small and medium-sized businesses that may have been previously priced out of traditional market research services, as Graves points out.

Company Foundation and Focus

Cashew was founded in 2023 by Graves and Rose Wong, the company’s chief operating officer. Their initial focus centered on consumer packaged goods, with a particular emphasis on the food and beverage industry.

Graves believes Cashew can differentiate itself within the rapidly expanding AI marketing tools landscape by maintaining a human element. Each Cashew client benefits from fresh data collected from real people, requiring specialized market research expertise.

Building a Proprietary Data Advantage

Cashew’s competitive edge is expected to strengthen as the company evolves. All real-world data gathered from client projects is anonymized and stored in a database. This resource will contribute proprietary data to future research endeavors.

Funding and Future Plans

To date, the company has secured C$1.5 million in pre-seed funding and is preparing to launch a seed round in early 2026, aiming to raise up to $5 million. These funds will be allocated to continued product development.

Looking ahead, Cashew’s primary objectives include expanding its presence in the U.S. market and developing its Business-to-Business (B2B) offerings.

“While there’s a substantial existing market for research, there’s also a significant number of potential buyers who are currently unable to afford it or lack the necessary timeframe,” Graves concludes. “We are essentially creating a new avenue for marketers to obtain answers to critical questions.”