How Exa powered market intelligence at Obvious

Obvious uses Exa's Websets API for internal business intelligence, generating targeted cohorts of similar companies per vertical and identifying the right contacts, replacing manual research loops with a single enriched call.

Obvious builds software that helps organizations work with customer data. To reach the right buyers in niche and diverse markets, the team needs fast, accurate market maps and the ability to pinpoint decision-makers at those accounts.

• Company research - Product lookalike cohorts to expand target lists
• People research - Surface relevant contacts at those companies to accelerate BD

Traditional list vendors and classification systems miss long-tail companies, especially when a firm straddles services and software or sells into an uncommon niche. They faced key obstacles:

• Incomplete coverage: Purchased lists often omit known in-market firms, forcing manual, multi-step web research
• Manual research loops: Hours spent in sourcing and setting up data partnerships for each new vertical
• Cost inefficiency: Spending hundreds of thousands to assemble comprehensive market maps

Obvious implemented Exa's Websets API to automate their market research and business intelligence workflows.

Obvious deployed the Websets API and achieved significant improvements in their market research capabilities.

• Complete coverage: Found companies that didn't show up anywhere else in their research stack
• Massive efficiency gains: One enriched call replaces 15–20+ manual iterations with comparable quality
• Cost reduction: Delivers for a few dollars what they'd been spending hundreds of thousands to assemble