Balloon
Balloon is a San Francisco-based SaaS platform that runs anonymous, approval-voting "Flights" to eliminate groupthink and surface underrepresented input for enterprise decision-making, serving customers across AWS, Unity, VMware, TrueCar, US Cellular, and professional sports.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2016
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Balloon does
Balloon (formerly Balloonr, rebranded December 2020) is a San Francisco-based SaaS company operating a research-backed collaboration platform that helps organizational leaders eliminate groupthink and surface underrepresented input during decision-making. The core product is the Balloon Platform, built around a proprietary two-stage workflow called a "Flight": leaders request input on a question, team members contribute ideas anonymously, and participants evaluate submissions using an approval voting system that emphasizes merit over seniority or vocal dominance. A Balloon Score metric quantifies group buy-in and alignment, while the platform supports both synchronous and asynchronous participation across time zones.
The technology stack centers on the Flight workflow architecture, the Approval Voting System, the Balloon Score alignment metric, and a content library of 150+ Flight Templates authored by 40+ recognized experts (including Adam Grant, Daniel Pink, Amy Edmondson, and Arianna Huffington) across 25+ business categories. AI appears as a reporting layer in the Business tier (enhanced AI reporting, monthly Managed Flight Reports with executive summaries and deep-dive analysis) rather than as a foundational modeling layer. Balloon monetizes via a three-tier SaaS subscription model — Pro at $112/month (annual) for self-serve teams, Business at $562/month with managed reporting and strategy sessions, and a quote-based Enterprise tier with dedicated Customer Success Managers, custom Flight design, SSO, and expert facilitation. Distribution is hybrid: product-led self-serve for Pro with a 7-day free trial, paired with sales-assisted enterprise motion and a Customer Advisory Board of senior executives from Airbnb, AWS, VMware, MasterClass, Coalition, US Cellular, and Thumbtack.
The company is venture-backed with cumulative disclosed funding of approximately $6.85M+ across more than a dozen rounds between 2013 and 2022, including a $2.1M round in December 2019 (co-led by LAUNCH, Streamlined, and Wavemaker Ventures) and a $2M round in March 2022 from DataPower Capital and VITALIZE Venture Capital. Co-founders Amanda Greenberg (CEO, formerly a public health researcher at the U.S. CDC and EPA) and Noah Bornstein (CTO and Data Protection Officer) lead a 1-10 person team headquartered at 268 Bush St. #3936, San Francisco, with the legal entity Balloon, Inc. incorporated in Delaware. Named enterprise customers span cloud (AWS), virtualization (VMware), gaming/tech (Unity), automotive (TrueCar), telecom (US Cellular), education/media (MasterClass), insurance tech (Coalition), marketplace services (Thumbtack), and professional sports (Houston Astros, LA Angels), suggesting both horizontal reach and a deliberate vertical-expansion strategy.
Balloon firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Balloon
- Legal name
- Balloon, Inc.
- Website
- https://getballoon.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2016
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Balloon is a San Francisco-based SaaS platform that runs anonymous, approval-voting "Flights" to eliminate groupthink and surface underrepresented input for enterprise decision-making, serving customers across AWS, Unity, VMware, TrueCar, US Cellular, and professional sports.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where Balloon is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Balloon business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- SaaS Subscription - Pro Tier: Entry-level subscription providing Balloon platform access with unlimited Flights, balloons, and pumps for internal single-domain use. Includes up to 50 participants per Flight, access to premium templates, and monthly check-ins. Priced at $112/month annually or $149/month billed monthly.
- SaaS Subscription - Business Tier: Advanced tier with enhanced AI reporting, one Flight Report per month with executive summary and deep-dive analysis, personalized onboarding, bi-weekly strategy sessions, priority support, quarterly account reports, and workshops with experts. Priced at $562/month annually or $749/month monthly. Additional users billed at $749/month.
- Enterprise Subscription: Fully customized packages including up to 300 participants per Flight, 5 Balloon admin seats, personalized implementation, dedicated Customer Success Manager, custom Flight design, training workshops, expert facilitation, advanced IT & security implementation, and executive briefings. Pricing is quote-based.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Per seat | Annual | Entry-level tier for teams starting with collaborative decision-making |
| Per seat | Annual | Advanced tier for leaders ready to elevate decision-making with enhanced support |
| Per seat | Multi-year contract | Fully customized enterprise solution with maximum support and features |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels7 records
Balloon product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Balloon sells a research-backed collaboration SaaS platform whose core mechanism is a structured two-stage workflow called a "Flight": leaders solicit input, team members anonymously contribute ideas, and the group evaluates contributions using a merit-based approval voting system. The platform includes quantified alignment metrics (Balloon Score), AI-enhanced Managed Flight Reports, and a library of 150+ expert-authored Flight Templates spanning 25+ business categories, sold via tiered per-seat subscriptions to enterprise teams for meeting replacement, decision-making, market research, team alignment, ideation, planning, and retrospectives.
Product overview
Balloon offers a unified collaboration platform designed to eliminate groupthink and improve team decision-making. The core product is the Balloon Platform, which uses a research-backed 'Flight' workflow to help leaders unlock insights from teams. This platform is complemented by Flight Templates—a library of 100+ expert-authored question sets covering 25+ business areas. The company operates on a tiered pricing model with Pro (entry-level at $112/month), Business (advanced at $562/month with enhanced reporting and support), and Enterprise (fully customized) tiers. All tiers provide access to the core Flight collaboration workflow, with differentiated features around participant limits, reporting capabilities, and support levels.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Balloon Platform A research-backed collaboration SaaS platform that uses a structured 'Flight' workflow to help leaders eliminate groupthink, surface unheard voices, and make better-informed decisions. Leaders ask questions, teams anonymously contribute ideas, and everyone evaluates the input on merit using approval voting. The platform produces quantified alignment metrics (Balloon Score) and supports meeting replacement, market research, team alignment, ideation, planning, retrospectives, and pre-mortems for enterprise leadership, HR, strategy, product/engineering, and sports teams.
- Flight Templates A library of 150+ pre-built question sets ('templates') authored by 40+ industry experts, leaders, and researchers, covering 25+ business categories. Templates guide efficient Flight creation, ensuring leaders ask the right questions across use cases such as meeting replacement, market research, team alignment, ideation, planning, retrospectives, DEI, and hiring. Access to premium Flight Templates is included with Balloon platform subscriptions.
Quantifiable outcome
- Reduces meeting time by 70%
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Balloon
Customer profileNamed customers10 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
Balloon technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration1 record
Feature5 records
Balloon partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Amazon Web ServicescoreAWS provides cloud computing services that power Balloon's platform and services. Listed in privacy policy as a data processing partner.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Balloon competitors and assessment
Company assessmentMarket position
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Balloon social profiles
Digital presenceBalloon financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Balloon leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Balloon funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds12 records
Investors24 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Balloon M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Balloon
What does Balloon do?
Balloon sells a research-backed collaboration SaaS platform whose core mechanism is a structured two-stage workflow called a "Flight": leaders solicit input, team members anonymously contribute ideas, and the group evaluates contributions using a merit-based approval voting system. The platform includes quantified alignment metrics (Balloon Score), AI-enhanced Managed Flight Reports, and a library of 150+ expert-authored Flight Templates spanning 25+ business categories, sold via tiered per-seat subscriptions to enterprise teams for meeting replacement, decision-making, market research, team alignment, ideation, planning, and retrospectives.
Is Balloon a public or private company?
Balloon is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Balloon founded?
Balloon was founded in 2016. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Balloon based?
Balloon is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does Balloon make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. SaaS Subscription - Pro Tier is the primary driver. The others are saaS Subscription - Business Tier and enterprise Subscription.
Does Balloon have an API?
No public API is recorded for Balloon.