It’s not often you get the words “Lisbon”, and “$360 million” in the same sentence when it comes to startups, but that’s exactly what’s happening today with the news that OutSystems — a player in low-code rapid application development which is based between Atlanta, London and Lisbon — has raised $360 million in an investment round from KKR and Goldman Sachs. KKR’s investment was made through its Next Generation Technology Growth Fund. That puts it into the Unicorn realm and will be a nice win for previous investors Portugal Ventures and Armilar Venture Partners, both Portugal-based VC funds. Outsystems was originally founded in Lisbon and maintains a large team there but is now HQ’d in Atlanta, USA and has 52 operations around the world. Now, that’s a scale-up. The news will be a shot in the arm for the Lisbon startup-scene which has been growing at a clip.
OutSystems provides an open, rapid application delivery platform that makes it easier and faster to develop apps once and deploy across iOS, Android, Windows Phone, and Web. It has over 400 enterprise organizations in 25 countries and includes clients such as Toyota, Logitech, Deloitte, Ricoh, Schneider Electric, and GM Financial.
“We’re attacking one of the biggest problems facing businesses today – the lack of speed and agility of traditional software development that is hindering digital transformation initiatives around the world,” said Paulo Rosado, OutSystems CEO.
“Founded in 2001, OutSystems has always had a strong vision for their platform. their technology is very advanced, creating a high barrier to entry for potential competitors,” said Joaquim Sérvulo Rodrigues, OutSystems Board Member and Partner at Armilar Venture Partners.