Alaan launches one of the region’s first equity buyback programs

Dubai: Alaan, the Middle East’s leading corporate card and spend management platform, today announced the launch of its employee equity buyback program, enabling team members to sell a portion of their vested stock options. The initiative, effectively an ESOP buyback, follows Alaan’s $48 million Series A fundraise led by Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia India & SEA).

Through this offer, Alaan employees will be able to participate in a liquidity event at the same valuation as Series A investors, with no haircut. This marks one of the first times a company in the Middle East has introduced an employee equity buyback at the Series A stage.

“Startups often use the word ‘ownership’ loosely. At Alaan, we’ve always wanted it to mean more than that." said Parthi Duraisamy, Co-Founder and CEO of Alaan. "This buyback ensures the ownership our people hold is not just a number on paper - it’s real, tangible, and valuable today.”

Since launching in 2022, Alaan has grown rapidly to serve more than 2,000 customers across the region, processing billions of dirhams in annualized card spend. The company also expanded to Saudi Arabia earlier this year.

From the beginning, Alaan has given equity to every employee, which has helped bring in talent from leading organizations such as Careem, BCG, Red Bull, McKinsey, and Goldman Sachs.

“Alaan's mission drew me in, but what sealed the deal was the fact that I would have equity and earn a part of the company from the get-go.” Said Aditya Gupta, the Operations Manager at Alaan. “Now, that very equity I was offered is worth ~15x, in just a matter of 3 years.”

Aditya’s story mirrors a growing shift in the region’s startup ecosystem - where early employees are beginning to see real outcomes from the ownership they hold.

“The company grows when its people grow. We’ve always wanted Alaan to be a place where people feel invested and rewarded,” said Karun Kurien, Co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Alaan. “As the company grows, it’s important that our team shares that success.”

With this buyback, Alaan underscores its mission to simplify finance for businesses in the Middle East while building a culture where ownership translates into actual value for employees.