Lyon-based LabLabee, an edtech platform for hands-on training in telecom networks of the future, has announced the successful completion of its seed funding round, securing $3.4 million. This round was led by Reach Capital and supported by Classera, along with existing investors Brighteye Ventures and e& capital. Notable business angels such as Cedric Sellin (Investor & Advisor in Tech) and Mohammed Husamaddin (VP of Business Development at Naseej) also joined the funding round.
This milestone marks a significant step in LabLabee’s mission to democratise future network technologies by providing immersive, accessible, and affordable hands-on training to empower professionals worldwide with the skills they need to excel in the rapidly evolving tech landscape.
Solving the global Telco skills gap
LabLabee, co-founded by Samir Tahraoui and Mahfoud Sidi Ali Mebarek, is the world’s first training platform focused on providing hands-on learning experiences in cutting-edge technologies in Telco, Telco Cloud, Private Cloud, Industry 4.0 and Networking.
“New technologies like 5G, IoT and cloud computing are transforming how telecommunication services are developed, deployed and managed. As such, both Telcos and the industry at large require skilled professionals who can support the networks of the future,” said Esteban Sosnik, General Partner and Co-Founder at Reach Capital. “LabLabee was born from Samir’s own frustrating experience in Telecom, both 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.”
The telecommunications industry (more than $1.8T market) is undergoing rapid transformation, marked by the emergence of new players such as hyperscalers, including Microsoft with its acquisition of Metaswitch and Affirmed Networks, and AWS with its 5G private deployment with Dish. Industrial giants like Nestle, Aramco, and ASN are also deploying private 5G networks, signalling a significant shift in the market landscape.
This fast-paced evolution has highlighted a critical skills gap not only for traditional telecom operators transitioning to cloud-native and AI-based stacks, but also for software developers, industrial engineers, and network and system administrators entering the new telecom space. A recent survey found that this skills gap is the biggest barrier to cloud-native adoption for telecom operators. Existing training platforms are often too generic and unaligned to specific customer needs, making the upskilling and reskilling of tech teams resource-intensive and time-consuming.
LabLabee addresses this gap by offering industry specific, on demand and affordable practice labs, in specific technologies like 5G, IMS, OpenStack, GitOps, CI/CD, Docker, and Kubernetes, that allow learners to master complex concepts and gain the confidence to apply these skills in their daily work. This ensures professionals gain the practical skills they need to implement cloud or AI on telco and network infrastructures in a rapidly evolving tech landscape. The company works with telecom operators, vendors, industrial companies, software firms, system integrators, universities, and many others to integrate hands-on practical exercises into their training programs while drastically reducing costs.
Samir Tahraoui, CEO of LabLabee stated: “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, architectures, and to maintain a wide range of skills. LabLabee’s benefit is to make learning easier, faster and field ready.”
Over the last year, LabLabee 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.
