Dubai-based human resources technology startup Cercli has announced the completion of an oversubscribed $12 million Series A funding round. The investment was led by European venture capital firm Picus Capital and is intended to support Cercli's development of new AI-native products and its expansion of market share within the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
Founded by Akeed Azmi and David Reche, former operators at Careem, Cercli focuses on building a unified platform for human resources management, payroll, and compliance, explicitly designed with artificial intelligence at its core. This round follows a $4 million seed funding round secured by the company last year.
Cercli reports significant growth, stating it has scaled revenue by more than 10x over the past year. The company now processes over $100 million in annual payroll for businesses operating across 50 countries, according to its internal figures. CEO Akeed Azmi indicated that the company's AI-first approach provides a competitive edge in a crowded HR technology market, contrasting its architecture with legacy systems built for on-premise or cloud environments.
The company has re-engineered its core offerings to be AI-native. Its payroll engine has been rewritten to be multi-country and "agent-compatible," aiming for efficient scalability across diverse global jurisdictions. Similarly, its recruitment module now incorporates agent-driven features designed to generate candidate lists, source from internal data, and conduct background logic on hiring suitability. Cercli also utilizes custom-built AI agents for its internal treasury and reconciliation operations, which Azmi noted contributed to the company closing its Series A while maintaining a reported 21% month-to-month revenue growth rate.
Picus Capital's founding partner, Robin Godenrath, stated that the firm's investment in Cercli marks its first in the MENA region, aligning with its strategy of backing global HR companies within its portfolio. Other participants in the Series A round included Knollwood Investment Advisory, Y Combinator, Afore Capital, and COTU Ventures. Cercli aims to capitalize on the estimated $5.8 billion HR software market opportunity in MENA, addressing a region historically characterized by fragmented enterprise systems and disparate HR solutions.
