The funding also saw backing from Y Combinator, Afore Capital, and COTU Ventures, alongside several high-profile angel investors.

Founded by Akeed Azmi and David Reche, both former Careem operators, Cercli was built to solve a long-standing problem in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, fragmented HR systems and outdated compliance processes that fail to connect HR, payroll, and finance. 

The company’s new AI-native architecture aims to unify these operations under one intelligent platform.

In just a year, Cercli has recorded 10x revenue growth, processed over $100 million in payroll across 50 countries, and expanded its customer base to include both startups and large corporations such as Vision Bank, Backlite Media, Global Climate Finance Centre, Huspy, Lean Technologies, and Ziina.

With the new capital, Cercli plans to expand its global footprint, strengthen its engineering team, and roll out new AI-native products designed to automate and simplify HR operations for businesses of all sizes. 

The company is currently hiring top talent from global tech giants such as Google, Meta, and Rippling to ensure its platform remains fast, secure, and reliable.

Azmi explained that Cercli’s focus has always been on rebuilding HR infrastructure from the ground up, not just layering AI onto existing systems. “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,” he said. 

“We didn’t want to just integrate AI; we wanted to rethink the whole stack for how people and agents work together.”

That rethink is already boosting Cercli’s services. Its new AI-driven recruitment assistant, Cera, now allows companies to manage hiring from application to onboarding, all within the same system. 

Cercli’s internal operations also rely on AI, with treasury and reconciliation agents managing its finances as the company maintains an average 21% month-on-month revenue growth.

According to Robin Godenrath, founding partner at Picus Capital, Cercli’s integrated approach to workforce management and its early traction made the investment a natural choice. “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,” he said.

Cercli’s Series A round also represents Picus Capital’s first investment in the MENA region, highlighting growing investor trust in the region’s HR-tech potential, an industry projected to exceed $5.8 billion in value.

Cercli is scaling further, and its founders believe that being AI-native gives them a distinct advantage. “Customers are asking for everything in one place, and being AI-native allows us to build that unified experience far more quickly,” Azmi noted.

The startup wants to deliver a single, intelligent platform that manages people, data, and processes seamlessly across borders, and to do so faster than any legacy company ever could.

The post Cercli Secures $12 Million to Expand AI-Native HR Platform Across MENA and Beyond appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

The investment was led by Accion Venture Lab, with strong participation from existing investors Zrosk, Chui Ventures, and Zedcrest Capital.

Founded in 2020 in Nigeria, PaidHR has rapidly expanded to reach Pan-African small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and tech startups across Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa. 

The majority of PaidHR’s users are logistics, retail, and manufacturing businesses with under 200 employees, whose reliance on manual, time-consuming processes has created inefficiencies and compliance challenges. 

PaidHR’s all-in-one platform enables businesses to scale efficiently and improve employee wellbeing by formalizing HR administration, automating both local and cross-border payroll, ensuring full regulatory compliance, and providing tailored financial services to employees.

By 2030, half of all new entrants into the global labor force will come from sub-Saharan Africa. Currently, 44 million SMEs provide an estimated 80% of jobs across the continent; however, these businesses are often informal and unable to provide HR and financial services to their employees. 

In Nigeria, 83% of the workforce lacks access to credit and cannot meet emergency and basic needs.

PaidHR aims to improve financial inclusion and promote economic resilience for Africa’s growing workforce. Through earned wage access (EWA), employees on PaidHR’s platform can access a portion of their salary before payday, helping to reduce reliance on predatory loans and alleviate financial stress. 

PaidHR’s integrated multi-currency wallet allows employees to receive payments and save in both local currency and USD, helping them navigate financial instability.

The platform also leverages payroll data to connect employees to other financial products, such as credit and savings plans, through partnerships with financial service providers.

“We are building HR management for the African context, and this funding allows us to scale our vision, expand our reach, and deliver even more value to our clients,” said Seye Bandele, CEO of PaidHR. 

“With the support of Accion Venture Lab and our returning investors, we are well- positioned to help small businesses grow and scale more effectively across borders.”

Amee Parbhoo, managing partner at Accion Venture Lab, commented: “PaidHR’s integrated platform is tackling deep-rooted structural challenges faced by small businesses and their employees in underserved markets, starting in Nigeria. 

“By combining human resources automation with embedded financial services like earned wage access and USD savings, the platform not only improves how businesses operate, but seeks to deliver meaningful financial inclusion for workers.

“We are proud to support the team as they deliver scalable, cost-effective solutions that help strengthen small businesses and enable employees to take control of their financial lives.”

The post PaidHR Raises $1.8M Seed Round to Boost Africa’s Growing Workforce appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.