Qureos, situated in the United Arab Emirates, describes itself as an edtech and future of work marketplace and is seeking entry into the Pakistani market following its pre-seed investment.
Qureos claimed on Wednesday that it recently raised $3 million in a funding round led by Dubai-based early-stage venture capital firm COTU Ventures and New York-based early-stage venture capital firm Colle Capital “to accelerate growth and democratize ‘learn to earn’ opportunities for talent globally.”
Globivest, Plutus21 Capital, Dubai Angel Investors, and AlZayani Venture Capital also participated in the financing. Among the angel investors were current and former executives from Swvl, Boston Consulting Group, Moelis and Company, Careem, Cisco Systems, Koinz, Message Bird, Bain and Company, and Hiperpool, ADNOC, and QIA, among others.
Queros was founded in August 2021 by Alexander Epure, Mehrad Yaghmai, and Usama Nini with the goal of accelerating careers through increased access to mentorship. According to a corporate release, it was validated at Dubai Future Accelerators for its ability to bridge the skill gap between college and the workplace, as well as across occupations.
“The issue is not a lack of talent. What we feel is that there is no shortage of talent, but it is not optimized,” explains Qureos co-founder Usama Nini. “A graduate or someone changing careers requires three things: merits, a strong network, and experience,” he explains.
According to Qureos, it set out to solve these three difficulties through experiential learning from mentors from Google, PayPal, and Cisco-type organizations. The learning is case-based, allowing apprentices to apply academic instruction in real-world circumstances, establishing Qureos as an edtech startup.
Qureos teaches a variety of skills on its platform, including social media management, product management, and content marketing. On the other hand, organizations who subscribe to Qureos services recruit these apprentices depending on their specifications, effectively creating a hiring marketplace.
Experiential learning increases a candidate’s chances of success in a job and relieves organizations of the strain of constantly recruiting candidates with the necessary skills.
While it now connects businesses with prospective employees, it aims to expand into payroll management and other services in the near future.
In response to a question from Profit, the startup did not provide a precise answer regarding the platform’s recruitment success rate. Usama stated that they did not measure the success rate actively because Qureos is solely responsible for making the talent pool available to enterprises for recruitment.
“After then, it is up to them whether or not to recruit. It’s between businesses and apprentices from there on,” Usama explains.
According to Qureos, it has been able to grow significantly as a result of the platform’s network effects. It claims to have over 25,000 apprentices in over 130 countries and collaborates with companies including Agility, Roche, Polygon, and DHL.
The startup generates revenue by charging apprentices and businesses a subscription fee. Mentors are compensated for their services on the platform, with Qureos receiving a commission for linking them with apprentices.
The startup plans to use the new capital to expand into Pakistan, where it will actively integrate businesses to enable them to recruit apprentices. “Qureos intends to invest heavily in the country over the next three years, creating one million learning opportunities and facilitating the creation of over 100,000 jobs,” the business stated in a statement.
“With 29% of the population aged 15 to 29, Pakistan is an ideal country for the company to focus on in order to accelerate 100 million careers.”
Qureos also intends to increase its team in Pakistan, where the company now employs more than 50% of its workforce. It intends to use the investment to expand its product-led operations and remote-first staff, with a particular emphasis on acquiring expertise for its offices in the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, and India.
“We believe that new learning models such as Qureos, which combine cohort-based, synchronous education with community, will gain traction and disrupt established players,” said Amir Farha, COTU Ventures’ Founder, and Managing Partner.
“We see tremendous opportunity in Qureos’ mission to close knowledge gaps and upskill professionals by leveraging the extraordinary pathway with direct mentorship,” Victoria Grace, founder, and managing partner at Colle Capital said.
“Simultaneously, this platform creates an incredible opportunity for highly skilled individuals to directly monetize their knowledge base, facilitated by distinct network effects, and for businesses to gain access to a pool of highly qualified and motivated talent.”