Calgary-based Cashew has raised new funding to support the next phase of its growth as the AI-powered market research startup builds what it calls “the future of research-led strategy and content.”
Calgary.tech named Cashew one of 10 homegrown Calgary startups to watch in 2026.
The company did not disclose the size of the raise or participating investors, but said the funding will help Cashew expand its product, deepen its capabilities, and help more organizations move from generic AI-generated output to original human insight.
Co-founded by CEO Addy Graves and COO Rose Wong, Cashew is reimagining how brands gather consumer insights by replacing weeks of traditional research with insights delivered in days.
Over the past two years, the company says it has worked with teams across North America and around the world, using its platform to help companies make faster and more confident decisions.
The raise comes as the role of market research is shifting quickly.
With generative AI making it easier than ever to produce campaigns, reports, and thought leadership, Cashew argues that originality is becoming harder to achieve. As more companies rely on the same public data, the same reports, and the same AI tools, the result is often more content—but not necessarily more clarity.
Cashew’s thesis is that fresh human data will become a critical competitive advantage.
“Fresh human insight becomes the advantage,” the company wrote in its announcement.
For Cashew, that means research is no longer just a slow, behind-the-scenes function used to validate decisions. Instead, the company sees research becoming a source of original thinking, market advantage, sharper strategy, stronger positioning, better products, and more relevant campaigns.
Wendi Seskus-James, Content Manager at Joni and a Cashew customer, put it simply: “If everyone is using the same public data, there’s no differentiation.”
That positioning has helped Cashew stand out in a crowded AI market.
The new funding also follows a breakout stretch for the Calgary startup.
In 2025, Cashew was named Best Enterprise Company at TechCrunch Disrupt’s Startup Battlefield, one of the world’s highest-profile startup competitions. Calgary.tech also previously reported that Cashew emerged as the top-funded startup at DMZ’s Women Innovation Summit, securing $190,000 in investments from DMZ Ventures and The Firehood.
Now, as AI makes content creation faster and cheaper, Cashew is betting that the companies that win will not be the ones producing the most material, but the ones with something original to say.
“If you don’t own a deeper source of truth,” the company wrote, “you’re just adding to the noise everyone else is making.”
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