We exist to help bring people together through trade.
International trade spreads ideas, knowledge, and technologies.
Our Story
Every second, some good is traded across borders, and this generates data. Every day, billions of new data records are created, giving a detailed insight into what is produced, shipped, and consumed across the globe. This massive volume of data can be overwhelming. Finding actionable information from it is like finding a needle in a haystack. This barrier to international trade is what is what Wim and Martin set out to overcome when the established AEXI.
AEXI – Advanced Export Intelligence B.V. was created in 2021 and established in Amsterdam, one of the world’s most connected and entrepreneurial cities. But its genesis goes back further, much further, to the early 1990s when its founders, Wim Naudé and Martin met at North-West University in South Africa. There they became fascinated with what was then the cutting edge of “big data” and “simulation models” namely social accounting-based general equilibrium modelling. They went on to develop and apply these tools internationally to issues of trade and sustainable development.
Being born-and-bred academic entrepreneurs, Wim and Martin both started successful earlier start-ups based on data analytics. In 2005 Wim started, as founding director and chairman, a spin-out company for the university called Afriforte (Pty) Ltd, with the logo “metrics that matter” – reflecting its business model based on advanced data science support decision-making. He went on to join the United Nations University where he was involved in the initial workshops that established UN Global Pulse, and subsequently moved to the Netherlands where he was Professor in Entrepreneurship and Business and Maastricht University and Germany, where he still teaches technological innovation and entrepreneurship at RWTH Aachen University. He is currently also affiliated with Cork University Business School in Ireland, and the Environmental Research Institute at University College Cork. In 2016 Martin started a spin-out company for the university called Trade Research Advisory (Pty) Ltd, which honed and perfected a decision-support model to filter out export opportunities based on COMTRADE data, going on to validate this methodology in projects for amongst others the London School of Economics, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the Australian State of Queensland government.
Fast forward to the great pandemic of 2020, they were asked to present some of their ideas on using big data to support international entrepreneurship at a seminar of Amsterdam Data Science. This was just at the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and they showed how the Netherlands could use trade big data to find alternative markets for the export of milk powder formula milk to China, given that the Chinese economy was at that stage in lockdown. Almost immediately after this they were asked to find alternative and new export markets for Portugal in the light of the effects of the pandemic.
These timely and relevant applications dramatically illustrated to Wim and Martin the power of data-driven decision making in trade, and moreover raised questions: why is this not used more widely? why are decisions on exporting left so much to coincidence, luck and historical accident?
The fact of the matter is that exporting is incredibly complex and risky. You need an intelligent approach to make a success of it. One challenge is lack of awareness of the existence of and uncertainty about the size and nature of particular export opportunities. An intelligent approach to export promotion overcomes these challenges. An approach that is fact-based supporting data-driven decisions.
AEXI provides a smart approach for our clients, using advanced data science tools combined with human skills and experience.
Every second, some good is traded across borders, and this generates data. Every day, billions of new data records are created, giving a detailed insight into what is produced, shipped, and consumed across the globe. This massive volume of data can be overwhelming. Finding actionable information from it is like finding a needle in a haystack. This barrier to international trade is what is what Wim and Martin set out to overcome when the established AEXI.
Wim Naudé and Martin Cameron founders of AEXI
We put global export opportunities in the palm of your hand
We do so by combining our combined experience of working for more than 50 years in data-driven decision making and research for trade and sustainable development across the world. From our understanding of and expertise on the sources of trade data, the science of trade and development, and the challenges of decision-taking and policy making under uncertainty, we have harnessed the power of algorithms to filter trade big data to find new, realistic export opportunities.
We do so by combining our combined experience of working for more than 50 years in data-driven decision making and research for trade and sustainable development across the world. From our understanding of and expertise on the sources of trade data, the science of trade and development, and the challenges of decision-taking and policy making under uncertainty, we have harnessed the power of algorithms to filter trade big data to find new, realistic export opportunities.
We put human agency first, meaning that our algorithmic approach – the AEXI Export Market Finder – is based on and informed by a rigorous and transparent scientific basis. We regularly publish our methods and findings in refereed scientific journals, blogs and opinion pieces. Putting human agency first also means that each time we apply our Export Market Finder, we calibrate it to the circumstance of our clients, and contextualise the model. We take care to deliver the Finder is a user-friendly manner, making use of cutting edge communication technology in which the layout, presentation and generation of reports are adjusted to the users’ needs. Literally putting global export opportunities in your hand.
Given the complexity of exporting and the challenges posed by trade big data, we provide various holistic services to support our Export Market Finder, such as training and facilitation in trade, international entrepreneurship design, and development policy support. Where needs be, we will link our clients with our extensive network of partner companies and entrepreneurs.

We’re waiting to help you
Get in touch with us today and let’s start working for globalization that benefits all!