Yazi, an AI-native research technology startup built on the WhatsApp messaging platform, has closed its first institutional funding round, valuing the company at R30 million (about $1.6 million) pre-money.
The funding round was led by 3 Capital Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm spun out of Allan Grey, the South African investment management group. The startup did not disclose the exact amount raised in the round.
Yazi’s platform leverages artificial intelligence to conduct research and market studies directly through WhatsApp, allowing organisations to run surveys, interviews, diary studies and panel research without requiring respondents to download new applications or switch to unfamiliar interfaces.
Founder and Chief Executive Timothy Treagus said reaching institutional backing was “far from straightforward,” noting that the company spent nearly four years navigating technical setbacks, revenue uncertainty, and repeated platform disruptions as it built the product.
“Yazi has raised its first institutional funding round, led by 3 Capital Ventures. It took almost four years to get here. And I mean almost didn’t get here in four years,” Treagus said, reflecting on the company’s early challenges.
During that period, the startup faced several interruptions when access to the WhatsApp infrastructure was temporarily cut, halting services and forcing operational pivots. Treagus disclosed that there were at least three instances where Meta shut down Yazi’s WhatsApp number, effectively stopping all activity overnight.
Founded in 2022 by Treagus alongside Chief Technology Officer Mzwandile Sotsaka, Yazi has built an AI-moderated system capable of probing participants with conversational questions and automatically analysing responses to generate research insights at scale, functions traditionally performed by human researchers.
The startup currently operates with a small team based in Cape Town, and reports that more than 65% of revenue comes from international clients, particularly research agencies in the United Kingdom and Europe.
Treagus highlighted the platform’s strong organic demand, saying, “We rank number one on Google for WhatsApp research keywords globally, and over 80% of our inbound leads now come through AI search, people asking ChatGPT and Gemini for WhatsApp research tools and landing on us.”
The new capital will be used to accelerate product development, including planned automated voice interviews through WhatsApp, and to expand Yazi’s network of research participants across emerging African and international markets.
Read Related Articles:
- 28+ Potential Funding Providers for Nigerian AI Startups
- WhatsApp To Allow Rival AI Companies
- OpenAI raises $110B in one of the largest private funding rounds in history
Senior Reporter/Editor
Bio: Ugochukwu is a freelance journalist and Editor at AIbase.ng, with a strong professional focus on investigative reporting. He holds a degree in Mass Communication and brings extensive experience in news gathering, reporting, and editorial writing. With over a decade of active engagement across diverse news outlets, he contributes in-depth analytical, practical, and expository articles exploring artificial intelligence and its real-world impact. His seasoned newsroom experience and well-established information networks provide AIbase.ng with credible, timely, and high-quality coverage of emerging AI developments.