Clear, which focuses on online tax filing, expects to generate USD 100 million from the Middle East business expansion led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE that are gradually moving towards taxation regime, a top official of the company said. Clear chief business officer Rohit Razdan told PTI that the company is planning to invest in the range of USD 15-30 million in the next two years to build capacity in the Middle East, specially in expanding the team size.
"Given the magnitude of the change and willingness of businesses to move towards digital finance - including compliance, payments and broader financial services - we believe that Clear can get USD 50-100 million in the next 3-5 years from Middle East region, a good portion of which will be from KSA and UAE," Razdan said
"The Middle East region did not have taxation for a number of years. Saudi Arabia, which is the largest market, has decided to have various kinds of taxation that they would be implementing.
"At this point in time, we have modified our current stacks, which is working well with Indian companies and localizing it at multiple levels like language, currency, time zones. We are getting good responses and we believe it will continue to become a major market in the coming 2-3 years.” Razdan said.
He said that the company would require 50-150 people for the operations as it plans to have presence in the top three-four of Saudi Arabia and top two cities of the UAE, Abu Dhabi, Dubai.
"By the end of this financial year, we expect to have 100-120 customers from the present 50-60 customers. We are limited by our own capacity to service these customers and hence trying to build the teams. We plan to hire 50-100 people in the next six months, but that will depend on the Covid restrictions and certain government developments," Razdan said.Clear has already deployed 30 people for business in the Middle East countries, he said.
About Clear
Clear is India’s leading Fintech SaaS company with the mission of simplifying finances for Indian businesses and individuals. We are trusted by over 5 million Indian Taxpayers, more than 1,00,000 tax practitioners, 600,000 small businesses and 2,000 large businesses and brands. For small and large businesses, our product suite covers invoicing, GST, range of managed services and credit. For tax professionals, we offer comprehensive GST compliance, ITR and TDS filing solutions. For individuals, we offer tax compliance and wealth management. Clear has raised $65 Million in equity capital investment since its inception. The company was incubated in Y Combinator and is funded by Silicon Valley investors, including PayPal co-founders Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, Max Levchin, and Scott Banister. Clear’s investors include Composite Capital, Sequoia Capital, and SAIF Partners. Please visit – Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube for latest updates on Clear
