LabLabee, an EdTech company providing hands-on learning experiences in future network technologies, has recently announced the successful completion of its seed funding round, securing $3.4 million. This round was led by Reach Capital, with participation from Classera, along with existing investors Brighteye Ventures and e& Capital. Notable business angels such as Cedric Sellin (Investor and advisor in Tech) and Mohammed Husamaddin (VP of Business Development at Naseej) also joined the funding round.
Co-founded by Samir Tahraoui and Mahfoud Sidi Ali Mebarek, LabLabee’s mission is to equip aspiring telecom professionals with the knowledge, skills and practical expertise needed to excel in this dynamic industry. With a strong focus on cutting-edge technologies in Telco, Telco Cloud, Enterprise, Industry 4.0 and Networking, the firm is revolutionizing the world of telecommunications through innovative virtual hands-on training labs. Over the last year, the platform has onboarded numerous companies, including Deutsche Telekom, Orange Group, Ooredoo, ASN, Axian Group, STC Solutions, Andorra Telecom and Cetin, and partnered with major vendors such as Juniper, Windriver and Amarisoft.
Speaking about the company, Samir Tahraoui, Co-founder and CEO of LabLabee, said:
Future networks are more open and constantly evolving according to businesses’ needs. While deploying such technologies, Telco, SI, and Industrial engineers constantly face the challenge of learning new technologies and architectures and maintaining a wide range of skills. LabLabee’s benefit is to make learning easier, faster, and field-ready.
The telecommunications industry, a massive $1.8 trillion market, is undergoing a significant transformation. New players, like tech giants Microsoft and AWS, are entering the scene with their 5G initiatives. Even industrial companies are deploying private 5G networks, reshaping the market. This rapid change has exposed a critical skills shortage. Telecom operators transitioning to cloud-based technologies and software developers, engineers, and administrators entering the new telecom space face this challenge.
A recent survey found that this skills gap is the biggest obstacle to telecom operators’ adoption of cloud-based solutions. LabLabee aims to bridge this gap by offering specialized, on-demand, affordable practice labs for technologies like 5G, IMS, and cloud-native tools. These labs help learners master complex concepts and gain confidence in applying their skills in real-world scenarios. This ensures professionals have the practical skills to implement cloud or AI solutions in the evolving Telecom and network infrastructure landscape.
Esteban Sosnik, General Partner and Co-founder of Reach Capital, added:
New technologies like 5G, IoT and cloud computing are transforming how telecommunication services are developed, deployed and managed. As such, Telcos and the industry at large require skilled professionals who can support future networks. LabLabee was born from Samir’s frustrating experience in Telecom as an engineer and a trainer. He, Mahfoud and the team bring the ideal blend of deep technical experience and industry knowledge to help workers upskill, reskill and thrive in this critical sector. We could not be more excited to back LabLabee.
With this investment round, LabLabee plans to achieve several key milestones in the coming months, including establishing a leadership position in the EMEA market, accelerating their expansion into the US market through hyper scalers partners such as AWS, Azure and GCP, and broadening their product portfolio with new hands-on training labs, including VMware, Redhat and Windriver. It also intends to expand its international team with top talent in engineering, sales, and customer support to maintain its high standards of quality and service. This expansion will help them better serve their growing user base and continue delivering exceptional training experiences.
