About Outset
Outset is a Technology company based in San Francisco (United States) founded in 2022 by Molly Montgomery. Outset is recognized as an AI-moderated research platform. It operates on a SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) model. Outset has raised $67.9 million across 5 funding rounds from investors including 8VC, Future Back Ventures and Y Combinator. Its website outset.ai draws about 282 thousand monthly visits. Outset offers products and services including AI-Moderated Research Platform, AI Usability Testing, and AI Concept Testing. Its focus areas include Software and Research Platforms. Its legal entity is Parnassus Labs, Inc. Its competitors include Notion, Smartsheet and User Testing; 3 of its 3 listed competitors have raised funding.
Company details
Outset is established as a leading AI-moderated research platform designed for user and market research. It is utilized by modern teams to gain fast, high-quality feedback across various stages of product development. Solutions offered include AI-driven user interviews, usability testing, and concept testing, enabling deeper customer insights at scale. The platform serves sectors such as technology, marketing, and product innovation, ensuring research is conducted efficiently with reduced resource demands.
- Total Equity Funding$67.9M (USD)
in 5 rounds
- Latest Funding Round$30M (USD), Series B
Dec 2025
- Investors8VC
& 11 more
Products & Services of Outset
Outset offers a comprehensive portfolio of products and services, including AI-Moderated Research Platform, AI Usability Testing, and AI Concept Testing.
AI-driven platform for conducting scalable user interviews.
Tool for uncovering user pain points via AI.
Service for validating new ideas with AI feedback.
Funding Insights of Outset
Outset has successfully raised a total of $67.9M across 5 strategic funding rounds. The most recent funding activity was a Series B round of $30 million completed in December 2025. This substantial capital infusion reflects strong investor confidence in the company's business model, growth potential, and market opportunities. The funding enables strategic expansion, product development, market penetration, and operational scaling to drive long-term value creation and competitive advantage.
- Total Funding $67.9M
- Total Rounds 5
- Last Round Series B — $30M
- First Round $500,000
(Jun 2023)
- Investors Count 12
All 5 funding rounds of Outset with amounts and investors; the two latest post-money valuations are shown, the rest are part of the premium plan.
| Date | Amount | Transaction Name | Valuation | Lead Investors | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 2025 | $30M | Series B | – | Radical Ventures | |
| Jun 2025 | $17M | Series A | – | 8VC | |
| May 2025 | $16.6M | Series A | – | – | – |
| Oct 2023 | $3.8M | Seed | – | Adverb Ventures | |
| Jun 2023 | $500,000 | Seed | – | – |
12 investors in total: 11 institutional and 1 angel.
Investors in Outset
Outset has secured backing from 12 investors, including venture fund and angel investors. Prominent investors backing the company include 8VC, Future Back Ventures and Y Combinator.
| Investor | Description | Founded Year | Domain | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Venture capital firm investing in technology, life sciences, and related sectors. | 8vc.com | |||
Venture capital investments are provided to Bain alumni startups. | futureback.vc | |||
Early-stage startups are accelerated via funding and educational programs. | ycombinator.com | Mountain View, United States | ||
Early-stage companies are supported through venture capital investments. | adverb.vc | |||
Venture capital fund focused on tech startups | rebelfund.vc | San Francisco, United States | ||
An early-stage venture fund is operated to support founders. | geniusventures.xyz | |||
Seed-stage investments are provided in tech-focused sectors by Ritual Capital. | ritualcapital.com | San Francisco, United States | ||
Early-stage venture capital investments are made by Alt Capital. | altcap.com | San Francisco, United States | ||
Venture capital firm focused on AI-driven companies | radical.vc | |||
Venture capital investments in technology startups are facilitated by M12. | m12.vc |
Investor details for Outset
The complete investor list, round-by-round participation and investor portfolios require an active premium plan.
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Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
People of Outset
7 people are tracked at Outset (3 in leadership, 4 in team).
| Name | Role | Group |
|---|---|---|
Molly Montgomery | Founder | Leadership |
Michael Hess | Co-founder | Leadership |
Aaron Cannon | Co-founder and CEO | Leadership |
Robin Chang | Software Engineer | Team |
Robert Crayton III | GTM | Team |
Lily Steinwold | SDR Team Lead | Team |
Nils Caspar | Software Engineer | Team |
Complete people profiles for Outset
Full employee and board profiles, team structure, tenure and professional contact details require an active premium plan.
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Timeline of Outset
3 dated milestones of Outset across 3 years, from founding to its latest funding, stage changes and deals.
- Founded Outset is founded.
- Funding First funding round of $500K.
- Funding Latest funding round, Series B, of $30.0M.
Competitors of Outset
Outset has 3 listed competitors in our database, 3 of them funded. They include Notion, Smartsheet and User Testing.
| Company Name | Domain | Founded | HQ Location | Total funding | Employees | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| getnotion.com | 2013 | Denver, United States | $18.52M | 30 | Diversified smart home products including hubs and sensors are provided. | |
| smartsheet.com | 2005 | Bellevue, United States | $120.59M | 2,594 | Cloud based suite solutions for enterprise project management | |
| usertesting.com | 2007 | San Francisco, United States | $148.5M | 557 | Automated usability testing and feedback for mobile experiences is provided. |
Detailed competitors of Outset
The full competitor set, operating metrics and side-by-side benchmarks require an active premium plan.
- Full competitor set
- Operating metrics
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- Competitive positioning
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Web traffic of Outset
The website of Outset (outset.ai) receives about 282.2K visits a month.
- Monthly visits282.2K
▼ 36.5% vs previous month
Websites whose visitors overlap most with Outset. Affinity shows how closely the audiences match.
| Website | Domain | Audience affinity | Monthly visits | Global rank | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| prolific.com | 100% | 13.3M | #3,847 | View details | |
| figma.com | 92% | 84.7M | #221 | View details | |
| surveymonkey.com | 86% | 38.3M | #1,421 | View details | |
| calendly.com | 84% | 40.1M | #1,297 | View details | |
| heymarvin.com | 78% | 72.8K | #501,421 | View details | |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
All 19 similar websites and full traffic analytics for Outset
The complete similar-websites list, audience overlap and engagement analytics require an active premium plan.
- 19 similar websites
- Audience overlap
- Engagement analytics
- Traffic by brand
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Top companies in Collaboration & Community Tools
3 companies that operate in the same segment as Outset (Collaboration & Community Tools) in United States, ranked by their profile score on The Company Check.
| Company | Description | Founded | Location | Total funding | Revenue | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cloud-based omnichannel communication and customer engagement platform is utilized. | 2008 | San Francisco, California, United States | USD 239.77 M | USD 5.07 B | 5,540 | |
AI-powered platform manages marketing creatives and customer journeys. | 1982 | San Jose, California, United States | USD 23.77 B | 30,710 | ||
AI powered customer experience management software | 2001 | Pleasanton, California, United States | USD 344.39 M | USD 477.22 M | 5,437 |
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Related news about Outset
Complete news archive for Outset
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Frequently Asked Questions about Outset
Outset was founded in 2022 and raised its 1st funding round 1 year after it was founded.
Outset is headquartered in San Francisco, United States. It is registered at San Francisco, California, United States.
Outset is a funded company, having raised a total of $67.9M across 5 funding rounds to date. The company's 1st funding round was a Seed of $500K, raised on Jun 2023.
Outset is established as a leading AI-moderated research platform designed for user and market research. It is utilized by modern teams to gain fast, high-quality feedback across various stages of product development. Solutions offered include AI-driven user interviews, usability testing, and concept testing, enabling deeper customer insights at scale. The platform serves sectors such as technology, marketing, and product innovation, ensuring research is conducted efficiently with reduced resource demands.
Outset's top competitors include User Testing, Smartsheet and Notion.
Outset offers AI-Moderated Research Platform, AI Usability Testing, and AI Concept Testing.
Outset has 12 investors. Key investors include 8VC, Future Back Ventures, Y Combinator, Adverb Ventures, and Rebel Fund.
Outset operates through Parnassus Labs, Inc..
The website of Outset receives about 282 thousand visits a month.