NetBox Labs Builds On Rapid Channel Momentum With Ahead Partnership

NetBox Labs has tapped Ahead as a strategic partner to help enterprises modernize network infrastructure, using its open‑source platform as the underlying system of record for network automation, cloud migration, and AI data center projects.

NetBox Labs, the three-year-old commercial steward of open-source network and infrastructure management stack NetBox, has announced a strategic partnership with Chicago-based solution provider giant Ahead to help enterprises modernize one of the last frontiers of the IT landscape to be updated: network infrastructure.

The newly minted partnership will have NetBox’s open-source infrastructure and network management platform serve as the “foundation” for Ahead’s network automation services to support its cloud migration, security, and AI infrastructure offerings, Bill Lapcevic, co-founder and chief revenue officer for NetBox Labs, told CRN.

“We see operational technology projects [and] we see AIOps and AI data center projects that are all trying to either modernize or move faster, and they’re recognizing that the data underpinnings — knowing what the intended state of your network and infrastructure is and being able to compare that to what you’re deploying and how it’s staying in that intended state — is absolutely critical to all these types of projects’ success,” he said, adding that this is where large solution provider partners come into play.

“I think these large [system integrators] tend to be our best partners,” said Lapcevic (pictured above). “All of them have big practices that are delivering network infrastructure and all of them need to understand how to design, plan, manage and maintain the intended state throughout all of these projects.”

Founded in 2023 after it spun out of DNS platform provider NS1, NetBox Labs offers what the company calls “the world’s most popular ecosystem for operating, automating and securing networks and infrastructure.”

NetBox’s widespread use in various infrastructures has led to a rapid partner-led growth strategy. Lapcevic said that as a result, 40 percent of the company’s growth is expected to come from partners over the next year. Right now, 30-35 percent of the pipeline is already sourced from partner opportunities.

Part of the company’s strategy has been to partner with more solution provider leaders. In February, NetBox announced its strategic relationship with World Wide Technology (WWT).

To bolster these partnership efforts, the company has tripled its partner team in the last two months and is expanding into Europe and the Asia-Pacific region by establishing significant partnerships with other large solution providers and system integrators in the regions, Lapcevic said.

Specifically, the partnership between NetBox and Ahead brings together NetBox’s infrastructure and network management platform, which includes its NetBox Discovery, NetBox Assurance, NetBox Copilot, NetBox Analytics, and NetBox Observability offerings, into Ahead’s network automation services to support its cloud migration, security, and AI infrastructure offerings. It will make for improved data consistency, reduced reliance on manual processes, and more repeatable execution across network, OT, AI, cloud, and distributed infrastructure environments for enterprises, the company said.

“Enterprises today need a reliable, authoritative foundation for infrastructure data — one that fits naturally into how they design, automate, and operate at scale,” said Ryan Alt, service director, service delivery for Ahead, in a statement on the partnership. “The NetBox Labs platform gives us exactly that. By integrating the platform into Ahead Hatch, Ahead Foundry, and automation offerings, we’re able to bring more consistent, lifecycle-aware workflows to every engagement, whether it’s network modernization, data center buildouts, OT environments, or AI infrastructure. This partnership sharpens our ability to deliver disciplined, repeatable programs while giving our customers a platform they can grow with.”

The relationship is based on NetBox being “the underpinning” for much of what Ahead brings to the market, including network assessments and network automation, Lapcevic said.

“[With] any network automation project, the first step is to put NetBox labs platform in place, get all your data into it, and then we can be successful building out automation workflows, or working with their Hatch product, which is particularly interesting to me [because] this is the first time that we’re delving into more of the asset lifecycle where you’re using NetBox for the design of components of your network or new data centers … So, it’s a really a multifaceted relationship,” he said.

Much like its relationship with WWT, the new partnership with Ahead “is going to be a big driver of business for us,” Lapcevic said.

NetBox Labs in 2025 revealed a Series B $35 million funding round led by NGP Capital, with participation from Sorenson Capital and Headline. Existing investors also participated in the round, including Flybridge Capital, Notable Capital, Mango Capital, Salesforce Ventures, Two Sigma Ventures, and IBM, according to the New York City-based startup.