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Funding and advertised pay are reported in USD; filed accounts retain their stated source currency and basis.

Exchange-rate basis

Indicative conversions use ECB reference rates dated 2026-09-14, applied consistently across all periods. They are not historical exchange rates. Indian rupees may use crore (1 crore = 10 million); other currencies use K, M and B. CSV downloads, source documents and quoted news headlines retain their original currencies.

THE THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES EDITION 2026

the United Arab Emirates’s
retail industry,
in focus.

The companies, capital and talent shaping retail in the United Arab Emirates. Find the leaders. Understand the segments. See where the activity is.

Explore in Radar Read the key signals
Snapshot: Funding in USD
Illustrated cover for Retail Industry Landscape of the United Arab Emirates
AE
COMPANIES · CAPITAL · TALENT

An industry ecosystem,
measured in context.

Retail illustration
Companies tracked 1,954Retail ecosystem in the United Arab Emirates Disclosed funding $864.76M77 companies · all recorded rounds Companies hiring 47With open roles at the snapshot Tracked open roles 7924 employers posted in the preceding 30 days
MEET THE COMPANIES

Explore the United Arab Emirates’s retail leaders

24 featured companies from the funding, hiring, revenue and team-size leaderboards.

Expand panel +
Explore the full landscape
Retail company highlights in the United Arab Emirates, snapshot 7 August 2026
Company
VINI Internationalviniinternational.com$173.7M—271—
eyewaeyewa.com$132.25M—162—
Wadiwadi.com$97M—127—
Opontiaopontia.com$62M—90—
The Luxury Closettheluxurycloset.com$47.6M3 roles125—
Tenderdtenderd.com$35.92M—55—
Namshinamshi.com$33M—792—
SQUAT WOLFsquatwolf.com$30M—70—
Chalhoub Groupchalhoubgroup.com—5 roles7,739—
Majid Al Futtaimmajidalfuttaim.com—5 roles329—
Socommerzsocommerz.com—5 roles——
Souq Planetsouqplanet.ae—4 roles——
CHIC LE FRIQUEchiclefrique.com—3 roles——
Jazp.comjazp.com—3 roles32Financial figure available in RadarView in Radar
Snaxlandsnaxland.com—3 roles——
BFL GROUPbflgroup.ae——2,750—
Bidfood Middle Eastbidfoodme.com——27,000—
Dubai Duty Freedubaidutyfree.com——5—
Huda Beautyhudabeauty.com——504—
Klashaklasha.com——31—
Nestonestogroup.com——3,262—
Spinneysspinneys.com——2,000—
Union Coopunioncoop.ae————
Yango Techyango-tech.com————
24 featured companies

Locked revenue figures are available in Radar; the eight company financial previews stay the same throughout this page. A dash means the figure is outside these featured lists. Revenue years vary by company; the figures are not a like-for-like revenue comparison. Compare annual accounts ↗

Company discovery

Recorded evidence only

Explore the live startup set in Radar

No company example met every recorded classification, independence and public-profile gate in this snapshot. The live directory may have newer qualifying companies.

Explore classified startups in Radar ↗
THE KEY SIGNALS

Retail industry KPIs in the United Arab Emirates

A few useful ratios bring the size of this ecosystem into perspective.

7 August 2026
Hiring participation2.4%

47 of 1,954 tracked companies have open roles.

Funding participation4.9%

96 of 1,954 tracked companies have a recorded round.

Top 3 funding share46.6%

Share of disclosed capital received by the three largest recorded recipients.

Median disclosed round$1.69M

Midpoint of 114 rounds with a disclosed amount.

Scale is concentrated. Opportunity is broader. The three largest funding recipients hold 46.6% of disclosed capital, while 95.1% of tracked companies have no recorded funding round.

Explore the segments →
CAPITAL & COMPANY FORMATION

How the United Arab Emirates retail has grown

Recorded company formation and disclosed funding across the complete annual series shown.

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2016 — 2025

Disclosed funding by year

Sum of recorded funding rounds · USD

the United Arab Emirates retail
$0$48.98M$97.96M$146.94M$195.92M2016: $76.6M20162017: $159.58M20172018: $43.39M20182019: $18.55M20192020: $28.96M20202021: $130.88M20212022: $70.86M20222023: $65.83M20232024: $171.86M20242025: $38.11M2025
View the numbers
Annual retail funding and company formation in the United Arab Emirates
YearFunding (USD)FoundedRaising
2016$76.6M764
2017$159.58M1015
2018$43.39M10912
2019$18.55M1527
2020$28.96M22610
2021$130.88M19016
2022$70.86M17011
2023$65.83M12214
2024$171.86M5414
2025$38.11M811
WHERE CAPITAL SITS

Funding concentration

Share of all disclosed company funding.

  • VINI International20.1%
  • eyewa15.3%
  • Wadi11.2%
  • Other companies53.4%

Funding by stage

152 recorded rounds since 2016

NUMBER OF ROUNDS
Seed & Angel98 64.5%
Series A–B33 21.7%
Series C+ / PE6 3.9%
Grants, debt & other15 9.9%

Recent recorded rounds

Latest recorded rounds · USD
0 rounds

Swipe or scroll horizontally to browse.

Largest and notable recorded rounds

Each card is one recorded round
10 cards

Swipe or scroll horizontally to browse.

Series C11/2024
eyewaeyewa.com$100M

Backed by General Atlantic and Badwa Capital and others.

Series B06/2021
eyewaeyewa.com$21M

Backed by Nuwa Capital and Kingsway Capital and others.

THE BUSINESS BEHIND THE ACTIVITY

Revenue, profitability & financial strength

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Annual accounts availability

No reviewed exact national-ID connector maps United Arab Emirates company identities to the configured global filings table.

DIGITAL FOOTPRINT

Web traffic, app reach and release cadence

How the the United Arab Emirates companies on this page show up online: the sites people visit, the apps they install, and how often those apps ship.

Busiest websites

32 of the 1,954 companies on this page carry a measured traffic record (1.6%); these are the largest of those, by monthly visits. The median among them is 331,977 visits.

CompanyMonthly visitsAuthorityMobile
noonnoon.com22,918,7567958.7%
Dubizzledubizzle.com4,612,3367249.3%
Namshinamshi.com1,432,1974957.4%
Carrefourcarrefouruae.com1,361,5636756.6%
The Luxury Closettheluxurycloset.com1,248,1934282.1%
DesertCartdesertcart.ae975,6392967.4%
Revibe Technologyrevibe.me946,0754083.1%
Huda Beautyhudabeauty.com917,5885973.3%
Majid Al Futtaimmajidalfuttaim.com807,7105079.6%
Ounassounass.com540,5255255%

Visits and authority are third-party web estimates, not company-reported figures.

Most-installed apps

210 of these companies (10.7%) publish at least one Android app — 334 apps in all, carrying 188.4M installs between them.

AppInstallsRatingStore category
noon Online Shopping & Grocerynoon60.9M4.7Shopping
MAF Carrefour Online ShoppingCarrefour23.9M4.3Shopping
Namshi - Online Fashion StoreNamshi20.9M4.6Shopping
Lamsa - Kids Learning AppLamsa World15.9M4.1Education
dubizzleDubizzle10.7M4.9Lifestyle
INAAMNesto4.5M4Shopping
Almowafir | كوبونات الموفرAlmowafir4.4M4.6Shopping
6thStreet Online Shopping6thStreet4M4Shopping
Splash Online - سبلاش اون لاينSplash3.6M4.3Shopping
The ENTERTAINERThe Entertainer3.5M3.8Lifestyle

Installs are lifetime totals to date at the June 2026 store reading — a measure of reach, not of people using an app today.

App reach by segment

The busiest app inside each of this page’s own segments, with the quarterly release trend behind it (2023Q4–2026Q1).

SegmentAppsInstallsLeading appRelease trend
Horizontal E-Commerce4982.1Mnoon Online Shopping & Grocery 60.9M
Retail Chains1532.8MMAF Carrefour Online Shopping 23.9M
Fashion Tech2732.8MNamshi - Online Fashion Store 20.9M
Beauty Tech2921MSniff. 47.7K
Pre-K Edtech1618.5MLamsa - Kids Learning App 15.9M
Online Mom & Baby Care518MMumzworld 1.7M
Coupons And Deals2314.7MAlmowafir | كوبونات الموفر 4.4M
Mom & Baby Care172.5M3asafeer School: Learn Arabic 2.4M

A company can carry several segment tags, so these rows overlap and should not be added together. Trend lines are zero-based and share one quarter grid, so a flat line is a quiet segment, not a missing one.

Release cadence by quarter

New apps published, beside apps whose most recent update landed in that quarter — the second bar is how much of the shelf is still being maintained.

2023Q2: 42023Q2: 62023Q22023Q3: 52023Q3: 32023Q32023Q4: 92023Q4: 72023Q42024Q1: 152024Q1: 162024Q12024Q2: 122024Q2: 62024Q22024Q3: 142024Q3: 82024Q32024Q4: 92024Q4: 152024Q42025Q1: 32025Q1: 92025Q12025Q2: 102025Q2: 112025Q22025Q3: 242025Q3: 452025Q32025Q4: 72025Q4: 332025Q42026Q1: 62026Q1: 362026Q1

Darker bars are new releases, lighter bars apps updated. 299 of 334 apps carry a release date. The series ends at 2026Q1, the last quarter that closed before the June 2026 reading.

INSIDE THE INDUSTRY

The the United Arab Emirates retail market map

Explore the segments behind the headline numbers.

Expand panel +

Where companies are building

Rank segments by scale, hiring or disclosed funding.

Consumer digital1,062
B2c e-commerce992
Enterprise tech307
Internet first brands273
B2c fashion e-commerce259
Marketplaces221
Commerce enablers155
Enterprise software154
Internet first fashion brands143
Beauty e-commerce137
Home improvement e commerce86
Internet first apparel brands85

Companies can sit in several segments. Counts and funding overlap.

SEGMENT TO EXPLORE

Consumer digital

The largest measured segment in this report snapshot.

1062companies
2.3%have hiring activity

24 companies hiring · $482.61M disclosed funding

Explore in Radar

How companies make money

Common revenue models; a company can use more than one.

E-commerce - product1,432
E-commerce - service571
Subscription313
Commission on transaction311
Advertising255
Physical commerce182
Fee-for-service81
Sponsorship6
THE COMPANIES IN MOTION

Who is listing, hiring leaders, launching and winning work

Recorded corporate activity linked to companies in this landscape.

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Recent corporate headlines 10 dated reports
Funding roundsnestogroup.com ↗

German-based Nesto raised €11 million to scale its AI workforce management platform for restaurant groups.

Mergers & acquisitionsdamasjewellery.com ↗

Titan Company announced that Titan Holdings International FZCO, UAE (Titan Holdings), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, has completed the acquisition of the Damas Jewellery business in the GCC countries through its subsidiary Signature Jewellery Holding (Signature Jewellery).

Funding roundsjoigifts.com ↗

Dubai-headquartered online gifts platform, Joi Gifts, has announced its latest funding, a Series A round worth $2.5 million from Saudi and Emirati investors.

Funding roundseyewa.com ↗

UAE-based eyewear retailer Eyewa raised the nation’s largest funding round in 2024, securing $100 million from American growth equity firm General Atlantic.

Funding roundsomooma.com ↗

Omooma has raised $2.5 million in funding from E20 Investment LTD.

Funding roundskingpin.global ↗

Kingpin, an AI-native SaaS startup based in Dubai, has raised $3.5 million in seed funding for an AI-powered B2B retail platform.

IPO activitymajidalfuttaim.com ↗

An initial public offering and the sale of some business lines have also been discussed.

IPO activityspinneys.com ↗

Dubai's upmarket grocer Spinneys' share price continues to be above its IPO rate of Dh1.53.

Mergers & acquisitionshudabeauty.com ↗

Fast forward to 2025, and Kattan has bought back that stake, marking a major milestone in her entrepreneurial journey.

Mergers & acquisitionssplashfashions.com ↗

RXA and Splash (2023) enhanced AI and analytics capabilities, creating a data-driven foundation for customer engagements.

Full recorded event mix

Top 10 categories among 147 recorded events in the 24-month window.

Company announcements
40
Earnings
34
Mergers & acquisitions
20
Funding rounds
16
Leadership moves
10
New products
10
Lawsuit
5
IPO activity
4
Contracts
3
Capital infusions
2
5 activity cards

Swipe or scroll horizontally to browse.

Leadership moves

4 tracked people moves

Huda Beauty ↗
Zarina Sarkar-Patel

Appointment Assistant PR and Influencer Marketing Manager

Michael Chalhoub

Appointment Chief Executive Officer

Patrick Chalhoub

Appointment Executive Chairman

Ananthanarayanan Hariharan

Appointment Chief Executive Officer

Product launches

Products, platforms and features in the recorded window

Yango Tech ↗
Industrial AI Agents

B2B AI Solutions

Yango Tech ↗
AI Agents

Artificial Intelligence

bfound ↗
EcomExpress

eCommerce solution

Litigation

3 tracked suits

Company
ELFBAR, LOST MARY v N, A

domain name disputesCivil · Settled

Company
ELFBAR v Munich-based business

trade mark infringementCivil · Verdict

Earnings pulse

Reported company results in the recorded window.

4companies
35period observations
6.5%median reported growth

Median across 27 reported growth observations; companies may contribute multiple periods.

Mergers and acquisitions

Company-linked deal reports; status is preserved as recorded.

Acquirer → targetStatusDateValue / context
Cartlow→Melltoo ↗Announced2026-04-07Not stated in snapshot
Huda Beauty→tsg consumer partnersAnnounced2026-02-11Not stated in snapshot
Titan Holdings International FZCO→Damas Jewellery ↗Completed2026-02-09Not stated in snapshot
onemagnify→Splash ↗Completed2025-05-28Not stated in snapshot
westerby group→Redswan ↗Announced2025-04-11Not stated in snapshot
Basantne→Cartlow ↗Announced2025-03-29Not stated in snapshot

A discussion or rumour is not a completed transaction. An unstated value is not zero.

PEOPLE & OPPORTUNITY

The talent market

32 postings in the preceding 12 months. The full 43-posting snapshot covers 27 employers.

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Most advertised job titles

Sr. Account Manager, 3P, Mena Marketplace2
Sales Consultant, Lifestyle Retail Uae National2
Specialist Environmental Services Aldar Retail Management2
Manager, Retail Credit Policy1
Associate Asset Management (Retail)1
Regional Shop Design Direction Leader | Retail | Ikea Regional Office1
4 internship postings

0 tracked postings mention remote work.

The seniority mix

22 postings specify a level.

unspecified
21
manager
17
senior
4
lead
1

Skills employers mention

Top skills across 43 tracked postings in the available jobs snapshot.

Customer Service
5
Visual Merchandising
4
Stakeholder Management
4
Product Knowledge
3
Microsoft Office
3
Merchandising
2
Stakeholder Communication And Coordination
2
Saas
2
Report Writing And Documentation
2
Vendor And Contract Management
2
THE PEOPLE BUILDING THE FIELD

Founders and leaders

506 founders and chief executives across 399 companies.

Expand panel +
12 profiles

Swipe or scroll horizontally to browse.

Education networks

40 profiles with education records.

INSEAD
5
London School of Economics and Political Science
3
University of Pennsylvania
2
The Wharton School
2
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2
University College London
2
University of Toronto
2
King’s College London
2

Prior employers

16 profiles with prior-work records.

Google
3
Amazon
3
Bain
3
McKinsey
2
Boston Consulting Group
2
Uber
2
Myntra
1
Microsoft
1

Profiles cover recorded founders and leaders; contact details remain in Radar.

NEWS INTELLIGENCE

How this industry appears in the news

69,507 articles in the measured 12-month window.

Expand panel +
69,507articles in the measured year
27,140articles in 2026Q1
64.1%positive tone in the latest complete year

News volume trends

Retail coverage across United Arab Emirates · articles per complete quarter

07,80315,60523,40831,2112021Q2: 5,4042021Q22021Q3: 7,5832021Q4: 6,4482022Q1: 8,7212022Q2: 6,6872022Q22022Q3: 7,1092022Q4: 8,7672023Q1: 10,2552023Q2: 9,6812023Q22023Q3: 18,9062023Q4: 13,1492024Q1: 8,8422024Q2: 9,0562024Q22024Q3: 9,2922024Q4: 12,8032025Q1: 14,6522025Q2: 12,7672025Q22025Q3: 12,0882025Q4: 12,2072026Q1: 27,1402026Q1
View quarterly article counts
QuarterArticles
2021Q25,404
2021Q37,583
2021Q46,448
2022Q18,721
2022Q26,687
2022Q37,109
2022Q48,767
2023Q110,255
2023Q29,681
2023Q318,906
2023Q413,149
2024Q18,842
2024Q29,056
2024Q39,292
2024Q412,803
2025Q114,652
2025Q212,767
2025Q312,088
2025Q412,207
2026Q127,140

Article volume measures coverage, not market sales.

Tone of coverage over time

2021
14,510 positive · 587 neutral · 6,957 negative
2022
20,413 positive · 926 neutral · 9,913 negative
2023
37,713 positive · 979 neutral · 13,271 negative
2024
27,031 positive · 1,088 neutral · 11,845 negative
2025
33,129 positive · 1,490 neutral · 17,037 negative

Leading coverage topics

Retail coverage across United Arab Emirates · ranked by full-period article count.

International Political Relations11,598 articles in the full recorded period
5,362 recent · 1,957 prior
Security And Defense Policies8,115 articles in the full recorded period
4,530 recent · 1,062 prior
International Relations And Diplomacy5,833 articles in the full recorded period
2,574 recent · 935 prior
Military Technology Advancements3,486 articles in the full recorded period
2,417 recent · 183 prior
Naval And Aerial Combat Operations3,291 articles in the full recorded period
2,081 recent · 298 prior
Cryptocurrency Impact On Forex Markets3,157 articles in the full recorded period
1,155 recent · 639 prior
Trade Policies And Agreements2,934 articles in the full recorded period
1,216 recent · 703 prior
New Product Launches And Innovations2,867 articles in the full recorded period
831 recent · 540 prior
Cybersecurity And Cyber Warfare2,585 articles in the full recorded period
1,771 recent · 145 prior
Market Research And Consumer Behavior Analysis2,508 articles in the full recorded period
467 recent · 368 prior

Recent and prior counts use the source comparison windows.

Topics gaining and losing attention

Retail coverage across United Arab Emirates

KeywordRecentPriorChange
diplomatic strategies845392116%
national security strategy78685825%
foreign policy analysis751256193%
multilateral diplomacy711337111%
geopolitical alliances68238577%
aerial bombardments68186692%
oil price volatility48668615%
diplomatic engagements45523395%
tariff negotiations44528855%
opec policies33856504%
inflation reports fx165356-54%
gdp growth forex161339-53%
trade deficits fx169334-49%
cpi forex153320-52%
eur/usd138310-55%

Event and signal lenses

Retail coverage across United Arab Emirates

All complete annual cohorts shown
Rising

Regulatory Risk

81,735 classified articles

inflation reports fx, gdp growth forex, cpi forex

57.5% critical · 32.2% positive
Rising

Funding Momentum

13,701 classified articles

cpi forex, inflation reports fx, gdp growth forex

40.9% critical · 47.2% positive
Rising

Growth

47,306 classified articles

gdp growth forex, inflation reports fx, cpi forex

22.9% critical · 51.4% positive

Retail coverage across United Arab Emirates. Topic labels describe recorded classifications and can include broad context.

GEOGRAPHIC FOOTPRINT

Where companies are based

Company counts, hiring and disclosed funding across the recorded hubs.

Expand panel +
8 cards

Swipe or scroll horizontally to browse.

UNDERSTAND THE LANDSCAPE

Retail in the United Arab Emirates: key questions

Clear definitions for making better comparisons.

What does this landscape measure?

It measures the tracked company ecosystem, recorded funding, hiring and other available evidence. It is not a market-size estimate.

Can segment counts be added together?

No. A company can belong to several segments, so segment counts and funding can overlap.

What does a missing figure mean?

A dash or unavailable panel means the current reviewed source snapshot does not support that figure.

KEEP EXPLORING

Put the United Arab Emirates in context

All landscapes ↗

Company ecosystem snapshot: 7 August 2026. Funding is recorded in USD; filed accounts retain their stated currency and reporting basis. Each section identifies its own coverage. The news and research behind these sections is explorable in Prism.

Canonical landscape ↗
Coming soon