Well, by now, you may have already heard the exciting news: OutSystems just raised $360 million from investors KKR and Goldman Sachs. And, that is really, really cool. That’s because we’re not going to spend it all on fancy ergonomic chairs and AI-powered foosball tables. We’ve got bigger and better plans, just for you.

Thanking our Developers - AI Foosball Table?

Before we get into all of that, a quick word about this investment. We’re incredibly psyched! This is a big deal for us. KKR and Goldman Sachs are two of the most prestigious investment firms in the financial world, funding successful companies like Uber, GoDaddy, VMWare, Lyft, and Alibaba.

Securing this kind of funding is the ultimate validation that the low-code vision we created 17 years ago is now hitting it big.

But the question remains: What are we going to do with that $360 million?

One of the best ways we thank all of our (very) loyal and dedicated developers, is to keep developing an amazing platform; something you will keep loving to use and that’ll keep on boosting your careers.

Think twice if you think we’re all done, though. To find out exactly what our plans are, check out this article by our founder and CEO Paulo Rosado. This is where you’ll read it first: he outlines the considerable investment we’re making in R&D—also powered by your ideas—to make OutSystems ever better.

OutSystems Ideas

I just mentioned your ideas, and that’s not a coincidence, as those are crucial for us. We get hundreds of ideas from our developer community every year, and many of those end up being implemented, helping shape the product. We’re keeping tabs on those suggestions, with a scoreboard that tracks just how many of your ideas are implemented. We’re here, we’re listening, and we want to be even closer. You are an essential part of what makes us great. We mean it.

By the way, with that closeness in mind, we're hosting our first worldwide OutSystems Developer Conference in Lisbon (6-7 November): By developers and (especially) for developers, architects and tech leads, with over 50 technical sessions and multiple tracks chock-full of amazing content. As a global company, we're also hosting our annual digital transformation and low-code events: NextStep 2018 in Boston, USA (25-27 September) and NextStep 2018 in Amsterdam, Netherlands (8-9 October).

And Now for Something Completely Fun

Sometime last year, we announced our new mascot to the world. This super-cool astronaut and Dev community mascot named Neo was all about embracing the choice of a new reality. One where you’re more efficient, fast, and—hopefully—happy. We’ve been cranking out Neo swag ever since, and you guys seem to love him as much as we do: t-shirts, stickers, our latest Neo M&Ms, you name it.

In celebration of this significant milestone for OutSystems, and as a way to express a huge thank you to the developers that have helped us get where we are today, we’re announcing a special collector’s limited edition piece of our mascot’s swag: 1,000 handcrafted soft Neo action figures.

Now, producing these is hard work. Because we anticipate some of you might get a little anxious about receiving yours—as we will be getting them in small batches— and don’t want anyone to camp outside our offices for three weeks, we’ve made a contest out of it, to see who shares the most and makes it to the top of the scoreboard.

Are you ready? Here’s how to play:

  • Fill in the form below with your name.
  • Very important: Fill in your OutSystems community email, as this is limited to community members. (If you’re not one yet, don’t fret, you can register now.)
  • Get your friends to sign up for the contest with your referral link. They get a Neo, you get a Neo, everyone is happy!
 

We’ll send you a note every once in a while to let you know when your own handcrafted Neo is ready for production and when you can expect to get him.

In the meantime, you can also bask in the glory of seeing your name top the Winner’s Leaderboard. Who knows what else may happen?

A very sincere and heartfelt thank you, from everyone here at OutSystems.

Have fun!

Mário Araújo and Developer Relations Team