YC-backed HR-tech startup Cercli has raised an oversubscribed $12 million Series A round to build the AI-native operating system for people and finance teams across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
The round was led by Picus Capital — marking its first MENA investment — with participation from Knollwood Investment Advisory, and returning investors Y Combinator, Afore Capital, and COTU Ventures.
Founded by ex-Careem and Kitopi operators Akeed Azmi (CEO) and David Reche, the startup is rebuilding the Rippling-style enterprise stack — but from the ground up for the AI era.
“The last 20 years of HR software — SAP, Oracle, Workday — were built for the cloud,” said Azmi. “Now we’re entering an AI-native world. We didn’t just want to integrate AI — we wanted to rebuild the entire stack for how people and intelligent agents actually work together.”
From Fragmentation to a Unified, AI-Powered Back Office
Most MENA companies still rely on fragmented systems for payroll, compliance, and recruitment. Cercli’s platform replaces this patchwork with a single AI-driven system that handles HR, payroll, and financial compliance seamlessly across countries.
Originally launched to consolidate people operations across the region, Cercli has now rewritten its entire payroll engine to support multi-country, agent-compatible architecture, letting businesses scale globally while staying compliant locally.
Its latest version introduces AI agents for:
- Payroll & compliance automation — managing complex, cross-border calculations.
- Recruitment & hiring — sourcing and ranking candidates based on internal datasets.
- Finance & reconciliation — running treasury and accounting workflows autonomously.
That automation-first approach has powered impressive traction: Cercli says it now processes over $100 million in payroll annually and has grown revenue 10x over the past year, with 21% month-on-month growth.
Clients include Vision Bank, Global Climate Finance Centre, Huspy, Lean Technologies, and Ziina — spanning startups to multinational enterprises.
Advertisement
Why AI-Native Matters
Cercli’s founders argue that being AI-native from day one gives them an edge over legacy competitors.
While platforms like Deel, Rippling, and BambooHR have bolted on AI features, Cercli’s architecture allows faster onboarding — going live in two to three days versus months for traditional systems.
“Customers are tired of stitching together point solutions,” said Azmi. “They want one system that unifies HR, payroll, and finance — and being AI-native allows us to deliver that experience much faster.”
Backed by Global HR-Tech Investors
The Series A brings heavyweight backers with deep HR and enterprise experience. Picus Capital, whose portfolio includes Personio, Deel, Multiplier, Maki, and JetHR, is betting that Cercli can dominate the region’s $5.8 billion HR software market.
“We’ve seen this model succeed globally, and we’re excited to back Cercli as they scale across MENA with new customers and products,” said Robin Godenrath, Founding Partner at Picus Capital.
The new capital will go toward developing additional AI-native modules, expanding Cercli’s engineering and go-to-market teams, and deepening market share across the Gulf, North Africa, and beyond.
About Cercli
Cercli is an AI-native HR and finance platform built for the MENA region. Founded in Dubai in 2022 by Akeed Azmi and David Reche, the YC-backed startup unifies payroll, compliance, hiring, and financial operations through AI-driven automation — enabling faster, more efficient, and more compliant business operations across 50+ countries.
