Scale or Fail

Forget buying jewelry. A UAE startup wants you to subscribe to it. For AED 299 a month, members get access to real gold and lab-grown diamond pieces that they can wear, swap and change without committing to ownership. So, is jewelry subscription the next big thing, or a business model that will fail? Today on Scale or Fail, Tim Elliott speaks to ICONEC founder Vandan Jain about why he thinks the UAE is ready to move from owning jewelry to accessing it.

Rising costs, supply chain pressures and economic uncertainty are putting food businesses under growing pressure. At the same time, consumers are looking for healthier products without paying a premium.On Scale or Fail, we speak with Anjali Naik, Co-founder and CEO, and Puneet Arora, Co-founder and CFO of Rype, about building a food business in uncertain times, managing supply chain challenges and delivering quality products at reasonable prices.

In this episode of Scale or Fail on Mira Business FM, Tim Elliott speaks with Urban Nest founder Janaika Elders about swapping 15 years of corporate FMCG stability for independent retail in the Gulf. She reveals the challenging reality of competing against legacy brands, navigating freight cost spikes, and turning niche curation into a scalable business.

Dubai offices are rethinking the daily lunch break, and Tazizi is building on the idea that the future of workplace dining could already be sitting in the office fridge. The Dubai-based food tech company provides smart fridges stocked daily with fresh, chef-prepared and macro-tracked meals, allowing employees to grab, pay and eat without waiting for a delivery. As Tazizi expands across Dubai, with Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia next on its roadmap, we speak to its Co-founder and COO, Brian Voelzing, about turning a simple workplace frustration into a scalable food tech business.

Paying rent, school fees and other big bills could be getting easier as more UAE consumers turn to monthly payments and direct debit. Joining Tim Elliott is Ummair Butt — the founder of Direct Debit System, the UAE’s first Central Bank-licensed fintech platform for recurring payments.