Alaan Co-Founder Parthi Duraisamy On How His Dubai-Based Startup Is Making Equity Meaningful For Its People

In August this year, UAE-based corporate card and spend management platform Alaan raised a US$48 million funding round led by India-based venture capital firm Peak XV Partners. Shortly afterward, the company— which offers its employees equity as part of their hiring package—announced that it would allow team members to sell a portion of their vested stock options at the same valuation as Series A investors, thus becoming one of the first companies in the Middle East to make such a move. For Alaan co-founders Parthi Duraisamy and Karun Kurien, this gesture was about more than financial reward. Rather, it was about proving that ownership at Alaan isn’t symbolic—it’s lived.

“Ownership has always been central to our business,” Duraisamy, CEO of Alaan, tells Inc. Arabia. “Both Karun and I came from environments where we saw talented people give their all, yet never truly share in the upside they helped create. We wanted to change that.” And this was why, when Duraisamy and Kurien launched Alaan in Dubai in 2022, they decided to roll out an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) from the get-go. “It was not symbolic,” Duraisamy says. “It was a real stake in what we’re building together. We introduced our ESOP early, because we wanted everyone, from our first engineer to our newest hire, to feel invested—to think and act like owners, not employees. That mindset has shaped our culture in a big way. People here take initiative, hold themselves accountable, and care deeply about outcomes, because they have skin in the game. The ESOP isn’t just a benefit—it’s a foundation for how we operate: transparent, driven, and built on shared success.”

That employee-centered philosophy, then, informed the co-founders’ decision to launch the buyback program once Alaan’s Series A round closed in August. “The idea came from a simple question we asked ourselves after closing our Series A: how can we make ownership at Alaan real, not just theoretical?” Duraisamy says. “We had built a culture where every employee had equity, but we wanted to go a step further—to give them the opportunity to turn that ownership into something tangible. From there, the process was straightforward. We decided on a buyback offer where every team member could participate at the same valuation as our Series A investors, with no haircut. We worked closely with our board, legal partners, and investors to structure the buyback in a way that was compliant, equitable, and meaningful for employees. The buyback was about making our team feel like their work actually matters and ownership is real. That when Alaan grows, our people grow too— and not someday, but today."

Alaan co-founders Karun Kurien and Parthi Duraisamy.
While it is fairly uncommon for a startup to launch a buyback program at a Series A stage, Duraisamy says that it is completely in line with the culture that he and Kurien have strived to cultivate at Alaan. “Our view was simple,” he says. “If we expect people to think and act like owners, that ownership should mean something today—not years down the line. We’ve been fortunate to reach profitability and raise a strong Series A round, which gave us the financial headroom to make this possible. But more than that, it was a cultural decision. We wanted to show that success at Alaan isn’t confined to the leadership team or investors—it’s shared across everyone who’s helped build it.”

Duraisamy is hopeful that this move “also sends a signal to the ecosystem,” which can inspire a broader shift in how the region’s startups approach employee ownership. “It shows that creating real value for employees doesn’t have to wait until a liquidity event or acquisition,” he says. “We hope it encourages other founders in the region to think about ownership not just as a recruiting tool, but as a long-term promise.” At Alaan though, the response from within the company has been immediate, signaling to the startup’s leadership that it was the right play at the right time, with it having a positive effect on everything from retention to recruitment.

“You can feel the sense of pride across the team,” Duraisamy says. “For many, this is the first time they’ve seen the ownership they hold actually translate into real, tangible value. It’s made people feel seen, rewarded, and truly part of something they’re building. It’s also deepened the culture that we’ve been intentional about from day one. People are more motivated to think long-term, because they’ve experienced what that ownership means in practice. From a hiring standpoint, it’s sparked a lot of interest, too. Candidates see Alaan as a place where ownership isn’t just a line in an offer letter— it’s something that’s lived, valued, and respected.”

The Alaan team.
Now, as the startup continues to scale across the region, having expanded from the UAE into Saudi Arabia earlier this year, Duraisamy says that his journey with Alaan has taught him what it really takes to create a culture where people feel invested in the outcome. “The biggest thing we’ve learned is that ownership only matters if it’s real,” he shares. “It can’t just sit in a slide deck or be used as a buzzword during hiring— people need to feel it, see it, and benefit from it.” That philosophy also shapes how he advises other entrepreneurs wanting to build company cultures rooted in real trust and genuine commitment.

“My advice to founders would be to start early, even if the amounts are small,” Duraisamy says. “Build a culture where every person has a stake, and then back it up with action when the company is in a position to do so. At the end of the day, startups are built by people who choose to believe in something before the world does. When that belief turns into real value, it creates a level of loyalty and motivation that no bonus ever could. That’s what makes ownership meaningful—when it’s actually practiced.”

Pictured in the lead image is Alaan co-founder and CEO Parthi Duraisamy. Image courtesy Alaan.