Cisco’s announcement that it will acquire BabbleLabs is a testament to the international technology success that the team at BabbleLabs achieved through their dedication, hard work and innovation. This is also a recognition of the calibre of tech talent that originates from Central and Eastern Europe, including Poland, where an important part of the BabbleLabs team is located. As an early supporter of the company, we are especially proud of this announcement as it will mark the first exit for OTB Ventures.
OTB Ventures supported BabbleLabs in May 2019 through a Series A round, investing alongside Intel Capital and Dell Technologies Capital. Our investment in BabbleLabs was an early bet on a talented team creating cutting-edge technology, and a signal of our faith in Chris Rowen’s leadership, expertise and passion for innovation, who has taken the company to new heights.
BabbleLabs improves the quality of audio through the removal of unwanted interference, with traditional use-cases including removing virtually all unwanted noise on the move, such as traffic, crowds, wind and machinery. This year, enterprises are facing severe disruption, and are forced to operate remotely. BabbleLabs recognised an opportunity and innovated to improve its products, working hard to support clients and users worldwide. We are pleased that Cisco, one of the world’s leading technology companies, recognised this too.
With the rise in remote-working, BabbleLabs’ software has become critical to those working from a home office environment, with BabbleLabs’ experts masterfully sparing the workforce of 2020 from hearing each other’s children, pets and housemates. BabbleLabs is exactly the kind of practical, innovative businesses OTB Ventures is looking to invest in as we remain committed to investing in technology with unique IP, links to the Central and Eastern European region, and truly global ambitions.
Providing support to founders as they scale their businesses is an essential part of our offering to all portfolio companies, and we have been thoroughly impressed by the progress that BabbleLabs’ engineers and software experts have been able to achieve in just over a year since our original investment. Even though OTB Ventures will no longer hold an equity position in BabbleLabs, we expect to remain in touch with the founders and the entire team, and observe and cheer on their remarkable growth.
Once again, congratulations to the BabbleLabs team - we look forward to seeing them succeed in this new venture!
We are always keen to meet and speak with innovators – if you are one of them, please get in touch with us via contact@otb.vc
