Cercli, founded by former Careem operators Akeed Azmi and David Reche, is rebuilding a Rippling-like back-office stack for the MENA region with artificial intelligence embedded throughout every module. Its platform consolidates HR management, multi-country payroll, compliance and recruiting, using agent-driven features to surface candidate lists and automate treasury and reconciliation tasks. The company claims onboarding takes just two to three days and that it now processes more than $100 million in payroll annually for customers across 50 countries. Revenue has grown more than 10× in the past year and is currently expanding at 21% month-over-month. Cercli’s 14-person team serves clients such as Vision Bank, Global Climate Finance Centre, Huspy, Lean Technologies and Ziina. With an estimated $5.8 billion HR software opportunity in the region, management plans to launch additional AI-native products and further expand market share. The startup previously raised a $4 million seed round and is a Y Combinator alum.

Total raised

$16M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Series A

Latest activity

Oct 2025