At a Glance
- Legal name
- OutSystems, Inc. (Delaware) / OutSystems - Software em Rede, S.A. (Portugal)
- Registry number
- N/A · verify
- Jurisdiction
- Delaware, USA (parent) / Portugal (ops HQ)
- Ownership
- private
- Employees
- 1000+
- Revenue (est.)
- $100M-1B
- Headquarters
- Rua Central Park 6, 2795-242 Linda-a-Velha, Lisbon
OutSystems is the Portuguese-founded low-code platform vendor that has, for two decades, argued that enterprise apps should be assembled visually rather than hand-coded.
OutSystems is the Portuguese-founded low-code platform vendor that has, for two decades, argued that enterprise apps should be assembled visually rather than hand-coded. Paulo Rosado co-founded the business in 2001 out of Lisbon, targeting the enterprise IT market rather than citizen developers. Today OutSystems serves more than 700,000 developers and thousands of enterprise customers across banking, insurance, government and logistics.\n\nThe product bundles visual app modelling, a deployment pipeline, application lifecycle management and a runtime that compiles models into standard web and mobile apps. A 2018 $360M round led by KKR and Goldman Sachs crystallised the company's unicorn status, and a Series I led by Tiger Global and Abdiel in 2021 valued OutSystems at $9.5B. The legal parent is OutSystems, Inc., a Delaware C-Corp; the Portuguese operating entity, OutSystems - Software em Rede, S.A., remains the engineering heart of the company and continues to hire heavily in Lisbon despite a full US commercial presence and global offices in London, Tokyo and Atlanta.
- 1
Parent-subsidiary layout
OutSystems illustrates the Portuguese unicorn redomicile pattern at its cleanest. The product was invented in Lisbon and is still built there, but the legal holding company is a Delaware C-Corp - OutSystems, Inc. - which is what KKR, Goldman Sachs, Tiger Global and Abdiel actually invested in.
- 2
Parent-subsidiary layout
The Portuguese S.A. sits below the Delaware parent as a wholly owned operating subsidiary that licenses IP back, pays Portuguese payroll tax on its engineering team, and claims SIFIDE II R&D tax credits against local corporate tax.\n\nWhy Delaware rather than Portugal? Portuguese corporate law does not comfortably accommodate the preferred-share, anti-dilution and liquidation preference machinery that late-stage growth investors expect.
- 3
Capital markets path
Delaware does, plus its Chancery Court produces predictable case law on fiduciary duty and minority protection. It also makes an eventual US IPO - which OutSystems has telegraphed repeatedly - significantly easier, because the registrant is already a US person for SEC purposes.\n\nThe pattern was reinforced by Web Summit's 2016 move to Lisbon, which dramatically increased US VC attention on Portuguese companies, and by the NHR regime (Non-Habitual Resident) which pre-2024 offered a 20 percent flat rate on qualified income for inbound executives. Lisbon became cheap to hire in, attractive to senior expats, and suddenly close to European and US capital. OutSystems was an early mover; Talkdesk, Remote, Feedzai and Unbabel all followed versions of the same structure. The Portuguese operating entity also benefits from EU market access, GDPR-native product positioning and a multilingual talent pool that is unusual by US standards.
Corporate Timeline
- Jan 2001Incorporation
OutSystems founded
Founded in 2001.
Replicate OutSystems's structure in 4 steps
The formation playbook, distilled from how this company was actually set up.
Estonia e-Residency play
To replicate OutSystems' structure, incorporate a Delaware C-Corp (the fundraising parent), then set up a Portuguese S.A.
Portuguese Lda
or Unipessoal Lda.
Parent-subsidiary layout
as its wholly owned operating subsidiary via a Lisbon notary.
Estonia e-Residency play
Execute an intercompany services agreement (cost-plus, typically 7-10 percent) for engineering work, and an IP licence from the Delaware parent to the Portuguese entity or vice versa depending on where the IP was developed. Register the Portuguese entity with IRN (Registo Comercial), enrol for Autoridade Tributaria VAT, and file RCBE (ultimate beneficial owner). Budget roughly two to three weeks in Portugal plus parallel Delaware incorporation.
Recent News & Filings
- Xebia Named OutSystems Partner of the Year 2025 in the Americas for Agentic AI - EIN NewsEIN News · 22 Apr 2026
- Agentic AI Goes Mainstream in the Enterprise, but 94% Raise Concern About Sprawl, OutSystems Research Finds - Yahoo FinanceYahoo Finance · 12 Apr 2026
- Agentic AI Goes Mainstream in the Enterprise, but 94% Raise Concern About Sprawl, OutSystems Research Finds - SD TimesSD Times · 7 Apr 2026
- OutSystems Unveils Agentic Systems Engineering for AI Agent Governance and Development - thelec.netthelec.net · 7 Apr 2026
- OutSystems Introduces Agentic Systems Engineering to Power Governed, Open Enterprise AI - PR NewswirePR Newswire · 2 Apr 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Is OutSystems a Portuguese company?
Operationally yes - OutSystems was founded in Lisbon in 2001 and still runs its core engineering there - but its holding company is OutSystems, Inc., a Delaware corporation.
Has OutSystems IPO-d?
Not yet. It has raised from KKR, Goldman Sachs, Tiger Global and Abdiel at a $9.5B valuation and is widely considered an IPO candidate.
Why is the parent in Delaware?
Delaware is the standard jurisdiction for US-style preferred share structures, VC term sheets and future IPOs. Portuguese corporate law does not cleanly support multi-class preferred stock.
What does OutSystems do?
It sells a low-code platform that lets enterprise teams build, deploy and maintain custom web and mobile applications visually rather than by hand-coding each layer.
Sponsored Content Inquiries
Publish a long-form sponsored article about OutSystems or your related business on Corpy. Editorial-style, SEO-optimized, linked from our country and industry hubs.
Start a sponsored article