Discover how Alaan has revolutionised business payments through AI-driven automation, corporate cards, and seamless expense management. Learn about its evolution from a startup to the Middle East’s leading spend management platform.
Alaan is transforming business payments with AI-powered automation, corporate cards, and real-time expense tracking. Explore its journey from inception to becoming the Middle East’s top spend management platform.
Managing business payments has long been an administrative burden for companies. From manual expense reports and complex approval workflows to delayed reimbursements and lack of visibility, traditional financial processes drain efficiency. The burden is so severe that nearly 48% of companies are actively working to automate financial tasks, and 88% of finance teams are speeding up their AI and automation finance usage. Moreover, According to IDC, companies lose 20-30% of their annual revenue due to inefficiencies in financial processes like invoicing and reconciliation.
This inefficiency led to the birth of Alaan, a fintech platform built to redefine business payments through smart automation, corporate cards, and real-time financial control. Over the past two years, Alaan has evolved from a stealth-mode startup to the Middle East’s #1 spend management platform, revolutionising how businesses manage expenses.
In this post, we explore Alaan’s journey, its major milestones, and how it continues to innovate in the world of business payments.
1. The Inception: Solving a Fundamental Problem
Before Alaan, business payments were fragmented—companies relied on petty cash, employee reimbursements, and manual invoicing, leading to inefficiencies at every level. The need for faster, automated, and more transparent payment solutions was evident.
The Founding of Alaan
In 2021, ex-McKinsey consultants Parthi Duraisamy and Karun Kurien saw an opportunity to transform financial operations for businesses in the Middle East. They launched Alaan, the region’s first multi-currency spend management platform, with a mission to eliminate manual expense reports, reimbursement delays, and inefficient approvals.
Seed Funding and Early Growth
Alaan quickly gained traction, raising $2.5 million in seed funding from leading investors like 468 Capital, Global Founders Capital, and Presight Capital. This initial backing enabled Alaan to build its core platform and establish strategic partnerships with regulated financial institutions to issue corporate cards.
At this stage, Alaan introduced its corporate card system, allowing businesses to issue both virtual and physical cards to employees. These cards provided instant tracking, spending controls, and automation, eliminating petty cash handling and slow reimbursements.
2. Alaan 1.0: The First Major Product Launch
In 2022, Alaan launched its first full-scale platform, bringing advanced expense management solutions to businesses. This version introduced:
- Smart corporate cards: Businesses could issue unlimited virtual and physical cards, each with customisable spending limits.
- Real-time expense tracking: Finance teams gained instant visibility over company spending, reducing manual reconciliation time.
- Automated accounting integrations: Alaan seamlessly synced transactions with leading accounting platforms like QuickBooks and Xero.
- Multi-currency payments: Alaan supported transactions in AED, SAR, and USD, allowing businesses to pay vendors effortlessly.
- Policy enforcement controls: Companies could set merchant restrictions, spending caps, and real-time alerts for better compliance.
Alaan rapidly became SMEs’ go-to spend management solution, helping businesses save thousands of man-hours spent on manual expense tracking and approvals.
Alaan was no longer just a corporate card provider—it had evolved into a comprehensive business payments solution.
3. Alaan 2.0: Scaling with AI and Automation
By 2023, Alaan had outgrown its initial model, focusing on AI-driven automation and expanding its payment solutions. As 88% of finance teams globally accelerated their adoption of AI and automation, Alaan responded with the next phase of innovation:
Key Innovations in Alaan 2.0
- Alaan intelligence (AI-Powered Automation): The platform began automating repetitive finance tasks, such as expense categorisation, fraud detection, and approval workflows.
- Apple Pay & Google Pay integration: Alaan became the first B2B fintech in the Middle East to offer contactless corporate payments through mobile wallets.
- Advanced spend analytics: Companies could track spending trends, identify cost-saving opportunities, and optimise vendor payments with AI-driven insights.
- Real-time reconciliation: Instant syncing with ERP and accounting software enabled businesses to close books faster with zero manual effort.
- Security and fraud prevention: Businesses gained enhanced fraud detection tools, allowing them to block transactions, freeze cards, and receive real-time alerts for suspicious activity.
This shift cemented Alaan’s position as the region’s leading AI-powered financial automation platform.
4. Expanding Horizons: Alaan Today
By 2024, Alaan had grown 10x year-over-year, becoming the #1 mid-market spend management platform globally on G2 rankings. The company now serves 1,000+ businesses daily, including real estate, logistics, healthcare, and tech enterprises.
Strategic Partnerships & Expansion
- Five-year deal with VISA: Strengthening Alaan’s role in the UAE and KSA’s cashless economy.
- Market expansion to Saudi Arabia: Due to growing demand, Alaan is set to launch operations in Riyadh, further solidifying its presence in the Middle East.
- Launch of Alaan bill pay: Enabling businesses to pay invoices directly via account transfers, expanding beyond corporate card payments.
Future Vision: What’s Next?
Alaan continues to push the boundaries of business payments with:
- AI-powered invoice payments & vendor management
- Deeper ERP and banking integrations
- Expanded global payment capabilities
With finance automation becoming a necessity, Alaan is set to lead the next wave of digital transformation in business payments.
Conclusion
From its humble beginnings in 2021 to becoming the Middle East’s most trusted spend management platform, Alaan has fundamentally changed how businesses handle payments. By combining corporate cards, AI automation, and real-time expense tracking, Alaan has eliminated manual inefficiencies, empowered finance teams, and made business transactions seamless.
Why businesses are switching to Alaan:
- Instant expense tracking & automation
- Smart corporate cards with AI-driven controls
- Seamless accounting & ERP integrations
- Multi-currency support & vendor payments
- Future-proof AI automation & fraud protection
Thousands of businesses have already streamlined their spend management with Alaan. Is your company next? Book a free demo with Alaan today
