Akeed Azmi

Yo, so you gotta hear about Akeed Azmi. This guy’s a straight-up legend in the Middle East startup scene, and honestly, he’s just getting started. He’s part of YC’s S23 batch – yeah, the big leagues – and the dude’s been crushing it across a bunch of heavy-hitters like Cercli, Kitopi, Careem, and MeezTea. The real deal, no cap.

So, what’s his story? It’s like this: he’s been deep in the trenches of building tech that actually moves the needle. Cercli, his latest gig, is basically trying to replace those old-school HR systems everyone’s been stuck with forever, especially in MENA. Think Rippling but for the Middle East and North Africa. And get this – they just raised $4 million in seed funding. That’s not small potatoes, man. It’s a signal that investors are betting big on what he’s doing.

Before Cercli, he was in the mix with companies like Kitopi, the cloud kitchen empire that’s blowing up, Careem, the Uber of the Middle East, and MeezTea, which I think is more on the consumer side. So, dude’s got the experience, no doubt. But what’s crazy is what this all says about him – he’s not just about making a quick buck. He’s genuinely driven to tackle big problems and build stuff that really changes the game in his region.

Starting something, especially in MENA, ain’t easy. The market’s got its bullshit, but Akeed? He jumped into the deep end, took risks, learned fast, and now he’s leading a company that’s setting a new standard for HR tech there. That’s legit. It shows he’s persistent, super ambitious, and genuinely cares about making a difference.

Honestly, if you wanna understand what’s happening in MENA’s startup scene, you gotta keep an eye on guys like him. He’s proof that the region’s got talent, grit, and big ideas – and he’s not stopping anytime soon. The way he’s connecting the dots from his past gigs to now, building something that’s got real impact, yeah, that’s the kind of story you wanna follow.