Cercli, an innovative company founded by former Careem operators Akeed Azmi and David Reche, has successfully raised an oversubscribed $12 million in its Series A funding round. This round was led by European venture capital firm Picus Capital in what is an inaugural investment for the firm in the MENA region. The company is committed to transforming HR management, payroll, and compliance for organizations worldwide. By putting artificial intelligence at its heart, it aims uniquely at those who are based or operating from the MENA region.
During the past twelve months, Cercli has grown exponentially, increasing its revenue by over 10x. Lever’s platform now powers more than $100 million in payroll annually on the platform. Its ecosystem approach makes it well suited to serve clients’ diverse needs, whether startups or multinationals. High-profile clients further demonstrate the platform’s broad versatility and widespread appeal. These clients serve the banking sector, fintechs, environmental protection organizations, technology companies and more, showcasing an expansive range of markets.
Cercli’s distinct value proposition ways deep complexities of HR, and the AI-native underpinnings cut through the complexity. Consequently, it takes only two to three days for any business to establish operations! That’s huge, considering it often takes several months with legacy systems. The company’s initial product was designed to simplify HR management for businesses with a focus on the MENA region. It helped level the playing field for the businesses competing internationally.
In a statement regarding the company’s vision, Akeed Azmi stated, “The legacy systems of the last 20 years—your SAPs, Oracles, Workdays—they were built for on-prem and the cloud. Now we’re entering an AI-native world.” This line of thinking really emphasizes Cercli’s focus on developing a modern experience that aligns with the needs of today’s businesses.
Cercli is violently capturing her market share in MENA region’s $5.8 billion HR software opportunity. To better facilitate this growth, the company intends to create new AI-native products that will bolster its service offerings. The company has managed to robustly rewrite its entire payroll engine to be multi-country and agent-compatible. This flexibility allows Cercli to be scalable and successful in any jurisdiction around the globe.
Cercli has had a strong 21% month-to-month revenue growth rate since closing its Series A round. This remarkable performance is a reflection of the booming market demand for its services. Azmi emphasized the importance of providing a unified experience for customers: “Customers are asking for everything in one place, and being AI-native allows us to build that unified experience far more quickly.”
The 4 times oversubscription of Cercli’s Series A funding round is emblematic of investor confidence in Cercli’s business model. Robin Godenrath of Picus Capital remarked, “We’ve seen this business model succeed globally within our portfolio, and we are excited to back Cercli as they continue to grow market share through new customers and product launches.”
Cercli’s ambition to rebuild a Rippling-like stack specifically for the MENA region positions it well within the competitive landscape of HR technology solutions. This deep understanding of the unique needs businesses in this region allows the company to push an AI-native approach that is best suited to serve those businesses’ needs. This holistic approach provides quicker, more efficient HR responses.
