Alaan, a spend management platform for MENA businesses, raises $4.5 million in a pre-series A round. The round witnessed the participation of Presight Capital, Y Combinator, and angel investors.

“Our team has grown rapidly since we founded Alaan. Since the last financing round, not only have we launched and expanded quickly but we have also been able to introduce remarkable product innovations, including AI-powered workflow automation for managing spend and seamless accounting sync. Our cashback card offers a unique benefit in the Middle East corporate card and spend management space. With the new funds, we are excited to further enhance our offering and expand our reach in new markets as we continue to help businesses improve their efficiency, productivity, and employee experience through Alaan,” Parthi Duraisamy, CEO and Co-Founder of Alaan, said.

The startup is planning to use the new funds for expansion across the GCC alongside international growth, Alaan plans to enhance its product, with new features including automated invoice payments to domestic and international suppliers. Alaan raised $2.5 million in a seed funding round last year.

Alaan was founded in 2022 by Parthi Duraisamy and Karun Kurien and allows businesses to instantly issue physical and virtual cards for managing all their business expenses, including e-commerce transactions, SaaS subscriptions, vendor payments, government services, or in-store purchases.

These cards can be set up with daily or monthly spending limits and can also be locked to be used only with specific merchants such as fuel stations.