YC alum Cercli, an AI-powered Rippling for MENA, raises oversubscribed $12M Series A
In a region long defined by fragmented enterprise systems, outdated compliance tools, and HR software that rarely talks to finance, Cercli is building a unified alternative for MENA businesses with AI at its core. The Dubai-based startup, founded by ex-Careem operators Akeed Azmi and David Reche, has announced an oversubscribed $12 million Series A round led by European VC Picus Capital. Cercli today looks slightly different from the company that raised a $4 million seed round last year. It is rebuilding a Rippling-like stack for the MENA region, but making it AI-native from the ground up. Over the past year, that bet has paid off. The company says it has scaled revenue more than 10x and now processes over $100 million in payroll annually for multiple businesses across 50…
