Tim Treagus: How Yazi is building an global research company using Whatsapp

When most companies think about market research, they think of email surveys, focus groups, and online questionnaires. For Tim Treagus, co-founder and CEO of Yazi, the answer was hiding in plain sight: WhatsApp.On this episode of the Tech Aways Podcast, Treagus shared how Yazi has built a research platform that allows businesses to conduct surveys, AI-moderated interviews, and longitudinal studies entirely through WhatsApp. The idea emerged while he was working on innovation projects aimed at South Africa’s informal sector and realised traditional research tools struggled to reach large segments of the population. WhatsApp, however, was already in almost everyone’s pocket.Founded in 2022, Yazi has since grown into a global research platform with a panel of 1.8 million profiled participants across multiple markets. The company enables brands to gather customer insights through a familiar messaging interface, improving accessibility and response rates while supporting richer forms of feedback such as voice notes, images, and videos.Treagus’s entrepreneurial journey began much earlier during his time at the University of Cape Town, where he co-founded an e-commerce startup selling waterproof beach pillows. While the venture itself wasn’t destined to become a long-term pursuit, it taught him valuable lessons about building businesses, solving operational challenges, and developing the confidence to create something from scratch.Today, Yazi operates both as a software platform and as a research partner. Some clients use the platform independently, while others rely on Yazi’s team to design studies, recruit participants, analyse findings, and generate reports. Its customer roster includes major brands such as Capitec, Discovery, Old Mutual, Pick n Pay, Uber, and leading research agencies. Notably, more than half of the company’s revenue now comes from outside South Africa.One of the company’s biggest differentiators is its use of artificial intelligence. Yazi’s AI-moderated interview capability can conduct thousands of conversations simultaneously, dynamically asking follow-up questions based on participant responses. The company has also introduced AI-powered analysis tools, including automated classification of responses and the ability to generate highlight reels from participant voice notes.Treagus believes WhatsApp will become a standard research channel for companies operating in emerging markets. That conviction helped underpin Yazi’s recent funding round, alongside strong growth metrics and growing enterprise adoption. The company has tripled in size over the past year and is targeting another year of similar growth as it expands further into international markets, particularly the United Kingdom.The conversation also explored startup fundraising, enterprise sales, AI-assisted product development, and the realities of building a venture-backed company from Africa. Treagus emphasised the importance of developing a compelling narrative, demonstrating traction, and positioning startups as solutions to urgent business challenges rather than simply offering incremental improvements.Looking ahead, Yazi plans to deepen its AI capabilities, including voice-based interviews conducted directly through WhatsApp calls. The broader ambition is to become synonymous with WhatsApp-based research globally, creating a category-defining business that reshapes how companies understand and engage with their customers. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit techaways.substack.com