SkillCat closes $3.3M seed led by Mucker Capital

SkillCat, a free training & jobs platform for skilled trade workers, today announced a $3.3 million seed round led by Omar Hamoui at Mucker Capital. The investment brings SkillCat closer to its vision of placing one million blue collar workers into high-paying skilled trade jobs. 

 

Both Mucker and Omar have deep experience in the technology space. Mucker Capital led the seed round for ServiceTitan (recently valued at $9.5 billion) and Omar famously started and sold digital ads platform AdMob to Google in 2009 (for close to $1 billion). 

 

The investment brings SkillCat closer to solving two of the world’s biggest problems: 1) blue collar workers can’t find good jobs and 2) there is a massive skilled trade worker shortage.

 

The SkillCat marketplace lets blue collar workers from all over the world learn a trade, fully online, through virtual simulations that certify their skills in jobs like HVAC, plumbing, and maintenance. Then, workers go through AI-enabled assessments that assess their hard and soft skills better than a resume. Companies match with the best workers and pay to hire top talent through the platform. 

 

“We are excited to be working with SkillCat,” said Omar Hamoui, Partner at Mucker. “They've established an excellent team with real traction and are going after one of the more meaningful social, economic, and political problems of our time. Helping people uplevel their skills and their lives without making them pay anything is a vision that could have far reaching impact."

 

Over the last six months, the platform has seen exponential growth. Every month, 10,000 new students organically join SkillCat’s platform - 80% of students are women, minorities, or young people. Active SkillCat hiring partners include Sears, Carrier, Trane, and Lennox.

 

The SkillCat team has deep experience working with blue collar workers. SkillCat Founder and CEO Ruchir Shah previously started LearnToDrill, an edtech startup training oil & gas workers to prevent oil spills. Shah started SkillCat to help laid off oil & gas workers find new careers. 

 

“As automation disrupts traditional industries, millions of workers are losing their jobs,” said Shah. “We’re here to help. If you get laid off, we will assess you, reskill you, and get you a job in another industry that fits your skills. 100% Free, 100% Online. SkillCat has your back.”

 

About SkillCat

At SkillCat, we're solving the largest social problem of our time: non-college educated workers do not have access to middle class jobs. Through our virtual simulator, we train & place blue collar workers into high demand skilled trade jobs in construction, telecom, and energy. Reach out to us anytime at info@skillcatapp.com. 

 

About Mucker Capital

Mucker Capital is a Los Angeles based venture capital firm specializing in early-stage investments.