Yazi Raises First Institutional Funding to Pioneer WhatsApp-Based AI Research

Yazi,  the WhatsApp-based AI platform for customer insights, has successfully raised its first institutional funding round, led by 3 Capital Ventures. The startup, founded by Tim Treagus, has been on a challenging four-year journey to reach this milestone. Along the way, the company faced multiple setbacks, including three instances where Meta shut down its WhatsApp number, temporarily halting the product and threatening the business. Despite these hurdles, the team persevered, guided by the conviction that WhatsApp is a uniquely effective channel to reach audiences often overlooked by traditional research tools.

According to Treagus, WhatsApp’s reach of 3.2 billion users makes it an ideal platform for gathering insights without requiring app downloads, email addresses, or stable broadband. This allows Yazi to engage respondents that conventional research methods struggle to access, opening opportunities in a $153 billion market that has barely tapped messaging platforms.

Treagus credited the company’s survival and progress to a combination of personal support and strong team execution. He highlighted his wife, Emma, as the original investor who filled funding gaps in early stages, and co-founder Mzwandile Sotsaka, whose technical expertise and rapid product development impressed clients. Today, Yazi operates with a team of seven based in Cape Town and counts major clients including Old Mutual, Pick n Pay, Capitec, Discovery, and Ipsos, with over 65% of revenue coming from international markets.

The funding from 3 Capital Ventures is expected to accelerate Yazi’s expansion and reinforce its position as a pioneer in WhatsApp-native research, helping businesses collect actionable insights from audiences previously out of reach. Treagus concluded the announcement with gratitude to all who supported the journey and reaffirmed the company’s commitment to scaling its innovative research platform.