Cercli is creating a consolidated alternative for businesses in the MENA region, leveraging AI, in a space historically characterized by disconnected enterprise systems, outdated compliance tools, and HR software rarely integrated with finance.
The Dubai-based startup, established by former Careem executives Akeed Azmi and David Reche, has revealed a $12 million Series A round that was oversubscribed and spearheaded by European VC Picus Capital.
The Cercli of today is somewhat different from the company that secured a $4 million seed round the prior year. It’s reconstructing a Rippling-esque platform tailored for the MENA region, but with AI integrated from its foundation.
That strategy has proven successful over the past year. The company reports that it has increased revenue by over 10 times and currently handles payroll exceeding $100 million annually for numerous businesses across 50 countries.
However, given the crowded HR-tech landscape—with numerous startups like Deel and Remote, alongside established players such as SAP and Oracle, all offering solutions ranging from cross-border payments to payroll—why is there a need for another HR tech company? CEO Azmi believes that its AI-centric approach could be the key differentiator.
Azmi initiated Cercli to assist enterprises with essential people operations, a problem he and Reche encountered at their previous employers, Careem and Kitopi, two of the most prominent unicorns in MENA.
With payroll dispersed across various systems and compliance differing by region, the initial iteration of Cercli centered on a platform that unified human resources management, payroll processing, and compliance for companies based in MENA operating on a global scale.
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But Azmi indicates they foresaw a larger opportunity by incorporating AI. Consequently, over the last three months, Azmi notes that the company has re-engineered its entire payroll system to accommodate multiple countries and agent interactions, facilitating more efficient scaling across global jurisdictions.
“The traditional systems of the past two decades—your SAPs, Oracles, Workdays—were designed for on-premise and cloud environments. Now, we are moving into an AI-native era,” Azmi stated in a TechCrunch interview. “We aimed to do more than simply integrate AI; we sought to reimagine the entire framework for how individuals and AI agents collaborate.”
The company has also applied this approach to its recruitment module. Cercli now provides agent-driven functionalities capable of identifying candidate lists, leveraging internal data resources, and implementing background logic to assess hiring compatibility.
Its internal operations are also AI-driven, with the company utilizing custom-built treasury and reconciliation agents to oversee its financial management and accounting. This is how the 14-member team finalized its Series A funding while sustaining a 21% month-over-month revenue growth rate, according to Azmi.
Aside from AI, the founder believes consolidation is another of Cercli’s strengths. While many multi-module HR competitors exist — including Deel, Rippling, BambooHR — companies in MENA often piece together their back-office operations using disparate solutions. A business might utilize various products for managing expenses, payroll processing, or recruitment.
“Customers are seeking an all-encompassing solution, and being AI-native enables us to create that unified experience much more rapidly,” Azmi clarified.
Azmi stated that Cercli’s AI-native framework also streamlines customer onboarding. He asserts that setup can be completed in two to three days, contrasting with the several months typically required by legacy systems. This advantage has enabled the two-year-old HR-tech startup to secure clients ranging from startups to multinational corporations, including Vision Bank, the Global Climate Finance Centre, Huspy, Lean Technologies, and Ziina.
Cercli also marks Picus Capital’s inaugural investment in the MENA region. The firm has previously supported other global HR companies such as Personio, Multiplier, Deel, Maki, and JetHR.
Additional investors participating in this Series A round include Knollwood Investment Advisory, along with existing investors Y Combinator, Afore Capital, and COTU Ventures.
As part of this investment, the company intends to develop new AI-native products and concentrate on expanding its market presence within the $5.8 billion HR software sector in MENA.
“We’ve observed the success of this business model globally within our portfolio, and we are thrilled to support Cercli as they continue to increase their market share through new customer acquisitions and product introductions,” stated Robin Godenrath, founding partner at Picus Capital.
