UAE Fintech Alaan Raises $48 Million in Series A Funding, One of the Largest Rounds for a MENA Fintech Startup
The Emirati fintech startup Alaan has secured $48 million in Series A funding, one of the largest rounds for a fintech startup in the MENA region. The operation is led by Peak XV Partners, with participation from Y Combinator, 468 Capital, Pioneer Fund, and several influential entrepreneurs from the region, including the founders of Careem, Tabby, and Khalid Al Ameri.
Founded by Parthi Duraisamy and Karun Kurien, two former McKinsey employees, Alaan offers a expense management platform for businesses. The idea was born out of a concrete problem: company cards were not accepted everywhere, forcing Duraisamy to advance his expenses and manage his receipts manually.
Since its launch in 2022, Alaan has processed 2.5 million transactions for over 1,500 businesses, including Careem, G42, and Lulu Group. It claims to have saved financial teams 1.5 million hours of manual work by automating tasks such as receipt management and VAT extraction.
Despite a delayed start due to regulatory constraints in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, the startup is now profitable, with $10 million in revenue generated against $5 million in expenses. It is betting on rapid growth in Saudi Arabia, where it launched its services in early 2025 and sees its volumes doubling every month.
Alaan plans to use the funds to strengthen its teams and further develop its AI-based tools, already integrated into its services to improve financial teams' productivity.
