Parthi Duraisamy’s struggle with corporate expenses while consulting at McKinsey’s Dubai office inspired the creation of Alaan, now the Middle East’s leading AI-powered spend management platform. Frustrated by American Express cards being declined and the tedious process of reconciling expenses, Duraisamy teamed up with fellow McKinsey alum Karun Kurien to streamline business finance operations in the region.
This week, Alaan announced a $48 million Series A round led by Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia Capital India & SEA), alongside participation from 885 Capital founders, Y Combinator, 468 Capital, and Pioneer Fund. Notable backers also include Careem’s Mudassir Sheikha, Tabby’s Hosam Arab, and content creator Khalid Al Ameri.
This marks one of the largest Series A rounds for a fintech company in the MENA region, highlighting Alaan’s rapid growth. Since its 2022 launch, the platform has processed over 2.5 million transactions across 1,500+ finance teams, including regional giants like G42, Lulu Group, Tabby, and Careem.
Despite early regulatory hurdles in both the UAE and Saudi Arabia, Alaan now operates successfully in both countries. It stands out for integrating Apple Pay into B2B services and adopting OpenAI tech early to automate backend processes like receipt matching, VAT extraction, and expense reconciliation.
Duraisamy says the platform has already saved finance teams 1.5 million hours of manual work and turned profitable, generating $10 million in revenue from just $5 million in spend.
With the new funding, Alaan aims to accelerate growth in Saudi Arabia, scale its team, and deepen its AI-driven automation efforts to help more businesses manage spending efficiently.
Duraisamy credits the startup’s capital efficiency, revenue traction, and disciplined growth, rather than industry hype, as the reason behind investor confidence.
