YC alum Cercli Raises an Oversubscribed $12M Series A for an AI HR Platform in MENA
In October 2025, Cercli, a YC-backed HR tech startup, made headlines after raising an oversubscribed $12 million Series A round. The funding marks one of the biggest HRTech investments in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) this year. Cercli is building something bold: an AI-powered HR platform designed to help companies hire, retain, and manage people faster and smarter.
Across the MENA region, businesses are racing to automate HR processes. Long hiring cycles, manual paperwork, and poor retention rates have slowed growth for years. Cercli’s approach is different. It uses artificial intelligence to predict talent needs, analyze employee data, and personalize workflows, all while keeping cultural and regional perspectives in mind.
This new funding gives Cercli the boost to expand across major markets like Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Egypt. More importantly, it signals a turning point for AI adoption in the MENA workplace, where digital transformation is finally meeting human potential.
YC alum Cercli: Startup to MENA HR Force
Cercli launched to solve a clear problem. Companies in MENA juggle payroll, compliance, and people data across many systems. The founders, former Careem operators Akeed Azmi and David Reche, built Cercli as a single platform for those needs. The startup joined Y Combinator and then moved fast. It claims steep revenue growth and growing enterprise traction since its seed round. Cercli positions itself as an AI-native alternative to legacy HR systems.
The Series A Round: Who Backed the Deal and Why It Matters?
On October 20, 2025, Cercli announced an oversubscribed $12 million Series A. The round was led by Picus Capital. Existing investors, including Y Combinator, Afore Capital, and COTU Ventures, also participated alongside several angels. Oversubscription signals strong investor appetite for AI-first HR solutions in MENA. For Picus, this was its first announced investment in the region. The deal sends a clear message: investors expect HR tech in MENA to scale quickly.
What Cercli’s AI HR Platform Does?
Cercli combines payroll, compliance, recruiting, and employee data into one stack. The platform automates payroll across multiple countries. It streamlines onboarding, manages benefits, and centralizes people records. Cercli layers AI to speed tasks. The company uses agent-driven features to surface candidate fits and to run internal reconciliation tasks. This approach aims to cut manual work and shrink setup time from months to days, according to the founders.
Traction and Real-World Impact
Cercli reports rapid traction. The company says revenue grew more than tenfold in the past year. It also states the platform now processes over $100 million in payroll annually for clients across roughly 50 countries. Faster onboarding and consolidated back-office data helped customers reduce administrative time. These gains make the product attractive to startups and larger firms alike, especially those expanding across borders.
Addressing HR Challenges Unique to MENA
MENA businesses face special hurdles. Labor laws vary by country. Arabic language support and regional pay cycles complicate automation. Many firms still use fragmented point solutions for payroll, expenses, and hiring. Cercli builds country-specific compliance and local language handling into the core product. That regional focus helps the platform manage payroll and tax rules that differ across markets. This localization can remove costly errors and reduce legal risk for employers.
The Bigger Picture: HRTech and AI Momentum in MENA
Investment in HR and enterprise AI has accelerated across the region. Governments and large companies push digital transformation. Startups are racing to offer unified stacks that replace costly legacy systems.
Cercli’s raise follows other sizable AI and enterprise deals in October 2025, showing investor confidence in tools that scale people operations. The market opportunity in MENA is often cited in investor decks as several billion dollars, driven by workforce growth and expanding cross-border hiring.
How Cercli Plans to Use the $12M?
Cercli intends to invest in product development, especially in building more AI-native features. Expansions into key markets such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Egypt are a priority. The company also plans to grow its engineering and compliance teams. Part of the capital will go toward faster customer onboarding and enterprise sales. Cercli says funding will accelerate the rollout of new modules for payroll, treasury, and analytics.
Industry Perspective and Risks
Investors back the vision, but challenges remain. Competition from global HR platforms and regional players is intense. Large incumbents can outspend startups on sales and integrations. Data privacy and regulatory shifts could change product requirements across countries.
Still, being AI-native offers a potential edge. If AI agents reliably automate routine tasks, teams can focus on strategy rather than paperwork. Analysts tracking enterprise AI have started using tools like an AI stock research tool to model growth scenarios and valuations in these fast-moving markets.
Conclusion: A Vote of Confidence for MENA HRTech
YC alum Cercli oversubscribed $12 million Series A on October 20, 2025, marking a milestone. The raise reflects investor belief in region-specific, AI-driven HR platforms. If Cercli scales product features and stays compliant across jurisdictions, the company could reshape how businesses in MENA manage people operations. The next year will test how quickly customers adopt a unified, AI-native back-office stack in the region.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Cercli is a Y Combinator-backed startup that uses AI to manage hiring, payroll, and employee data. It helps companies in MENA work faster and smarter.
On October 20, 2025, Cercli raised $12 million led by Picus Capital, with support from Y Combinator, Afore Capital, and COTU Ventures.
YC alum Cercli funding shows investor trust in MENA’s AI-driven HR market. It helps modernize people management and supports regional digital transformation.
Disclaimer: The above information is based on current market data, which is subject to change, and does not constitute financial advice. Always do your research.
