Cascade, an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered strategy execution platform, plans to explore strategic options this summer, including a capital raise or sale, said CEO Charlie Newark-French.

The New York-based company has begun preliminary discussions with potential suitors, with a process expected to formally launch in June or July, according to Newark-French. He said Cascade plans to hire a financial advisor to support the effort.

In a capital raise scenario, Cascade would look to raise USD 50m–USD 60m, with proceeds split evenly between primary and secondary funds, Newark-French said. Growth equity would be used to accelerate AI capabilities, expand product development, and strengthen the company’s go-to-market strategy.

Logical potential buyers include large management consulting firms or enterprise software companies, Newark-French said.

Cascade’s software platform enables organizations to implement and track their strategic initiatives through dashboards, performance tracking, and workflow management.

The business generates more than USD 10m in annual recurring revenue (ARR) and is intentionally operating around breakeven, Newark-French said. It uses a consumption-based pricing model rather than seat-based subscriptions, he noted.

Industry multiples for AI companies can reach 10x to 20x ARR, while traditional software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies are trading around 5x ARR, he said.

Cascade was founded in 2017 by Tom Wright in Sydney, where the company maintains an office. The business has approximately 60 employees.

Newark-French said Cascade has raised roughly AUD 40m in capital to date from investors including Telescope Partners, Five V Capital, Carthona Capital and OneVentures.

Cascade serves enterprise organizations across a variety of verticals including financial services, healthcare, education, technology, manufacturing and government. Its roughly 400 customers include PepsiCo, St Jude’s, Roche, the World Wildlife Fund, and the National Institutes of Health, Newark-French said.

Roughly 50% of revenue comes from the US; 20% from Europe; and 15% from the Middle East, primarily Saudi Arabia, with the balance generated in Asia-Pacific, the CEO noted.

Cascade is targeting the roughly USD 500bn global management consulting market, which Newark-French said remains heavily reliant on manual tools such as PowerPoint and Excel. He added that traditional consulting firms could also become partners as organizations adopt more technology-driven strategy execution processes.

Large management consulting firms include Deloitte, PwC, EY, KPMG, Accenture, McKinsey, BCG, and Bain, Newark-French said. He cited WorkBoard, a provider of software that helps companies set goals, track progress and execute business strategy, as a peer.

Newark-French expects consolidation to accelerate in the fragmented strategy execution software market, which also includes ClearPoint Strategy, AchieveIt and OnStrategy.

Cascade aims to help organizations translate AI strategy into execution, according to Newark-French, who said most of the 52% of Fortune 500 companies that have gone out of business over the past 20 years did so due to strategic missteps in adapting to major market shifts, such as Blockbuster’s delayed move into streaming and Circuit City’s failure to embrace online shopping.

Today, AI represents a similarly fundamental shift reshaping enterprise strategy, Newark-French said.

Newark-French joined Casade as CEO in January 2025. He previously was CEO or president of enterprise software companies Hyperscience and Sharpen, as well as Fuze, which was acquired by ThinkingPhones in 2015.