About Outside.in
Outside.in is a Media & Entertainment company based in New York (United States) founded in 2006, and was acquired by AOL in March 2011. Local news is aggregated from diverse sources for specific locations. Outside.in has raised $14.4 million across 5 funding rounds from investors including AOL, Union Square Ventures and Village Ventures. The company was acqui-hired. Its focus areas include Internet First Media, News Portals, Aggregators and Long Stories. Its competitors include News Break, SmartNews and MSN; 2 of its 3 listed competitors have raised funding.
Company details
Outside.In aggregates local news from a variety of sources, including newspapers, events calendars, local blogs and Twitter. It provides a 1,000-foot view of news around a specific location. Outside.in makes local blogs the focal point of information access, rather than forums or reviews. The site also offers bloggers a feature called StoryMaps which automatically geotags, organizes, and promotes content. Similarly, Outside.In offers a customizable tool kit for publishers which allows publishers to aggregate and curate neighborhood news using the Outside.In platform.
- Headquarters New York, United States
- Stage Acquired
- SectorsMedia & Entertainment
- Website outside.in
- Social LinkedIn X
- Acquired by AOL (Mar 2011)
Funding Insights of Outside.in
Outside.in has successfully raised a total of $14.4M across 5 strategic funding rounds. The most recent funding activity was a Series B round of $7 million completed in December 2009. 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 $14.4M
- Total Rounds 5
- Last Round Series B — $7M
- First Round $900,000
(Feb 2007)
- Investors Count 5
All 5 funding rounds of Outside.in 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 2009 | $7M | Series B | – | – | |
| Dec 2008 | $2M | Series A | – | – | |
| May 2008 | $3M | Series A | – | – | |
| Oct 2007 | $1.5M | Angel Round | – | – | |
| Feb 2007 | $900,000 | Angel Round | – | – |
6 investors in total: 6 institutional.
Investors in Outside.in
Outside.in has secured backing from 6 investors, including venture fund and institutional investors. Prominent investors backing the company include AOL, Union Square Ventures and Village Ventures.
| Investor | Description | Founded Year | Domain | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Venture capital firm focused on blockchain, wellbeing, and multiple sectors | usv.com | New York, United States | ||
FinTech & Media focused seed and early stage VC firm investing in the US | villageventures.com | Williamstown, United States | ||
Venture fund backed by Henry R. Kravis | nycif.org | Culver City, United States | ||
Investing in creators, organizing AI events, and building community in New York. | betaworks.com | |||
Early-stage venture capital is provided by Activate Venture Partners. | activatevp.com | New York, United States | ||
Online news, entertainment, and financial content is delivered. | 1983 | aol.com | New York, United States |
Investor details for Outside.in
The complete investor list, round-by-round participation and investor portfolios require an active premium plan.
- Complete investor list
- Round participation
- Investor portfolios
- Co-investor network
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Timeline of Outside.in
4 dated milestones of Outside.in across 5 years, from founding to its latest funding, stage changes and deals.
- Founded Outside.in is founded.
- Funding First funding round of $900K.
- Funding Latest funding round, Series B, of $7.0M.
- Exit Acquired by AOL.
Competitors of Outside.in
Outside.in has 3 listed competitors in our database, 2 of them funded. They include News Break, SmartNews and MSN.
| Company Name | Domain | Founded | HQ Location | Total funding | Employees | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| newsbreak.com | 2015 | Mountain View, United States | $140.24M | 122 | Multi-category news is aggregated online by News Break. | |
| smartnews.com | 2012 | San Francisco, United States | $410.2M | Personalized news stories are discovered via machine learning algorithms. | ||
| msn.com | 1995 | Redmond, United States | Operates a web portal that aggregates news and delivers various online services to users. |
Detailed competitors of Outside.in
The full competitor set, operating metrics and side-by-side benchmarks require an active premium plan.
- Full competitor set
- Operating metrics
- Benchmarks
- Competitive positioning
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Web traffic of Outside.in
Websites that share an audience with Outside.in (outside.in).
Websites whose visitors overlap most with Outside.in. Affinity shows how closely the audiences match.
| Website | Domain | Audience affinity | Monthly visits | Global rank | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| everyblock.com | 100% | View details | |||
| patch.com | 100% | 25.2M | #2,922 | View details | |
| topix.com | 78% | View details | |||
renfrewtoday.ca | renfrewtoday.ca | 74% | #1,252,657 | – | |
science.slashdot.org | science.slashdot.org | 60% | – | ||
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
All 9 similar websites and full traffic analytics for Outside.in
The complete similar-websites list, audience overlap and engagement analytics require an active premium plan.
- 9 similar websites
- Audience overlap
- Engagement analytics
- Traffic by brand
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Top companies in DTC Media Innovators
3 companies that operate in the same segment as Outside.in (DTC Media Innovators) in United States, ranked by their profile score on The Company Check.
| Company | Description | Founded | Location | Total funding | Revenue | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Multi-category news is delivered through an app-based platform. | 2016 | Arlington, Virginia, United States | USD 30 M | 356 | ||
Online platform publishing content focusing on investment | 2011 | Chicago, Illinois, United States | USD 60.4 M | |||
Subscription-based sports media is delivered to local premium audiences. | 2016 | Chicago, Illinois, United States | USD 134.42 M |
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Frequently Asked Questions about Outside.in
Outside.in was founded in 2006 and raised its 1st funding round 1 year after it was founded.
Outside.in is headquartered in New York, United States. It is registered at New York, New York, United States.
Outside.in is a funded company, having raised a total of $14.4M across 5 funding rounds to date. The company's 1st funding round was a Angel Round of $900K, raised on Feb 2007.
Outside.In aggregates local news from a variety of sources, including newspapers, events calendars, local blogs and Twitter. It provides a 1,000-foot view of news around a specific location. Outside.in makes local blogs the focal point of information access, rather than forums or reviews. The site also offers bloggers a feature called StoryMaps which automatically geotags, organizes, and promotes content. Similarly, Outside.In offers a customizable tool kit for publishers which allows publishers to aggregate and curate neighborhood news using the Outside.In platform.
Outside.in's top competitors include News Break, SmartNews and MSN.
Outside.in has 6 investors. Key investors include AOL, Union Square Ventures, Village Ventures, The New York City Investment Fund, and Betaworks.
Yes. Outside.in was acquired by AOL in March 2011.