Exxaro Success Story

Key Results:

• Saves Exxaro around $100k each year in people costs

• Ability to see the high-level impact of emerging tech, and drill down into specific subsectors

• Stay on top of industry trends and company changes as they happen

CB Insights Products Mentioned:

• Collections →
• Connect →
• Investment Trends→
• Research →

When you begin a research project, it’s hard to know where to start. Sometimes you spend days going down one route only to reverse course a few days later. And once you have enough information to know what you truly need, you often need to restart and rework your initial question. Instead of spending days or weeks performing research, what if you could start down the right path in just a few clicks? What would that mean for your team and your business?

Exxaro, one of the largest black-owned mining companies listed on the JSE, is no exception to this rule. We are one of the top five coal producers in South Africa and the biggest coal supplier to South Africa’s power utility. Despite our reputation, this is an industry focused on sustainable growth and innovation. We rely on in-depth research, but there’s no time to get stuck in the process, or else we get left behind. 

Exxaro understands that the future of sustainable energy and production is much bigger than coal and curates a diversified asset portfolio designed to incorporate new ideas and technologies. We’ve started incorporating renewable energy solutions that will help us reach our net-zero target by 2050. We have interests in renewable energy, thermal and metallurgical coal, and equity-accounted investments for iron ore, zinc, and residual pigments.

I’ve been with Exxaro for 12 years, and I’ve predominantly focused on the innovation and venturing arm of the business. I’ve worked on different alternative energy technologies to reduce our impact on the planet. I was also part of the Business of Tomorrow Project to identify spaces for growth in energy, water and agriculture. I’ve even sifted through different retail technologies to evaluate opportunities for change in our processes and operational improvements.

It’s my job to examine potential partnerships, investments, and opportunities by looking across various complementary industry segments. Finding those companies and building a pipeline of opportunities can be challenging, but CB Insights makes that process seamless.

Improved Efficiency for a Lean Team

I usually start my day with CB Insights’ Daily Digest. In my line of work, there are always new reports that highlight the latest industry developments. It’s good to have a broader understanding of what’s happening in different sectors. For example, certain retail technologies may have applicable use cases within the mining space, such as how we integrate new technologies into our current operations to ensure maximum productivity and sustainable processes.

I recently read a report on CB Insights about the impact of having a digital version of a coal plant or mining pit—something like that would be revolutionary for traditionally-run plants. I’m also interested in exploring ways AR, VR, and the metaverse could influence our training programs and prepare our employees for unforeseen events or emergencies. Monitoring these developments via the Daily Digest gives me confidence about our choices.

CB Insights helps us become more efficient as a team. Creating a Collection to share information with others gives me the power I need to delegate effectively. Everyone can access the same data and see how insights are drawn. And because all the information we read is clean, high quality, and up to date, we can all trust the data we see, leading to more informed decisions without second-guessing ourselves.

Exxaro might be a global company, but my side of the business is exceptionally lean. We don’t have much time to do background research and analyze everything we find about a topic. But using custom dashboards from CB Insights, I can take what used to be a time-consuming, laborious process and break it down to simple, bite-sized tidbits and strategic relevant questions. Using CB Insights, a research cycle that used to take three or four weeks now takes three or four hours. I can scan through current or developing technologies, locate the biggest players, and see what skills and capabilities would make such an industry successful. I can ask the questions that need asking and examine how we can transform our queries into more powerful value generators.

Using CB Insights, a research cycle that used to take three or four weeks now takes three or four hours.

Unlocking the Value Chain

Every business wants to find value in everything we do. Exxaro needs to stay agile and efficient, and we also don’t want to commit a lot of time, money, and energy on inefficient processes and time wasting activities. For our organization to spend weeks performing research every time we pull a report would require us to add more people to our team. CB Insights helps us fill that gap. By not having to hire multiple analysts, Exxaro saves around $100k each year in people costs. 

We also have a dedicated customer success manager, and I can leverage their skills and knowledge. Rather than setting aside days of my time for research, I get to spend time turning insights into practical steps and actionable items, ultimately unlocking value for the organization.

Part of unlocking the value chain involves following capital and investment trends. CB Insights makes identifying these trends so much easier. Its repository of information frees up my time to think about the big picture, giving me the ability to efficiently direct my team and inform my leaders. We used to have a six-week cycle for tracking trends and markets. These days, we cycle with the leadership team every three to four weeks, which helps the business move faster.

It’s nearly impossible to research trends and emerging markets via public information alone. Before CB Insights, if I found a company of interest and an appropriate contact, I still had to contend with the familiarity factor. People would ask, “Who’s Exxaro?” and I’d spent a lot of time talking about us rather than learning about them.

CB Insights has a feature, Connect, which eliminates this problem. I won’t have to cold-email a CEO or ping them, or several of their team members, on WhatsApp. All I need to do is click the button and CB Insights facilitates an introduction. This continuous value add got me hooked on CBI—and it keeps me coming back for more.

By not having to hire multiple analysts, Exxaro saves around $100k each year in people costs. 

Everything We Need and More

CB Insights gets me started faster with information that matters, all while tracking entire industries at scale. Once I identify an area of interest, I can pull valuable data about relevant technologies rather than rely on vague press releases or blog posts. Even if I know nothing about a subject, I can use CB Insights to get the basics down quickly and concisely. 

CB Insights gets me started faster with information that matters, all while tracking entire industries at scale.

There’s not a single area of interest I can’t find on CB Insights, from interior design to green hydrogen to rubber manufacturing. Whatever I want to find, there will be something there. This wealth of data makes us stronger as a company. And when it comes to the sustainable and green future, I couldn’t ask for a better partner.