Outset Bags $17M For Ai Qualitative Research Platform Backed By Weightwatchers, Nestle, Microsoft

Boston-based technology firm Outset has introduced an AI-driven platform engineered to conduct qualitative customer research at scale. The system employs artificial intelligence agents to engage individuals in interactive dialogues, aiming to automate the process of gathering verbal insights. This approach seeks to accelerate and expand the scope of methods traditionally reliant on manual moderation.

Outset's platform is designed to deploy AI agents to conduct interviews, automatically capturing verbal feedback and generating structured data for analysis. The company asserts this capability allows enterprises to collect research information without requiring human moderators for each interaction. Integration features are intended to connect the platform with customer relationship management (CRM) systems, enabling triggered interviews based on specific events or interactions within the customer journey. The platform reportedly manages scheduling, follow-ups, and transcription through a unified portal, aiming to reduce turnaround times and enhance analytical depth for product development and customer experience teams. WeightWatchers, Nestle, and Microsoft are among corporations reported to have utilized the platform.

In support of its expansion and product development efforts, Outset secured $17 million in Series A funding, bringing its total funding to $21 million. The company, founded by individuals with backgrounds in research and enterprise B2B software-as-a-service (SaaS), stated its revenue has experienced nearly 20 percent month-over-month growth, accompanied by a tenfold increase in customer usage since its launch. This funding round is allocated towards infrastructure development, research and development, and broadening its market presence.

Outset is targeting mid-to-large enterprises seeking to modernize qualitative research methodologies. Initial focus sectors include fintech, health tech, and B2B SaaS, areas where understanding customer sentiment through qualitative nuance is deemed critical. The firm positions its platform as an alternative to conventional manual interview workflows and established research tools. The system is described as an AI-moderated research platform designed to combine the scale and speed of a survey instrument with the depth of individual interview methods. Outset claims its AI agents conduct video interviews with participants and synthesize the outcomes, achieving interview depth at the scale and speed typically associated with surveys. According to data provided by the company, its system is over eight times faster than previous research methods while capturing tenfold more interviews.

This development represents an effort to integrate artificial intelligence into the qualitative voice-of-customer research domain, utilizing AI agents capable of both conducting conversations and processing auditory input to derive insights remotely and at scale.

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