ThrowMeNot Secures $550K Pre-Seed for Food Waste in UAE

UAE based startup ThrowMeNot secures $550,000 in pre seed funding led by Sheikh Ahmed bin Mana Al Maktoum to scale its food waste reduction marketplace and expand across the MENA region.

UAE based sustainability startup ThrowMeNot has raised $550,000 in a pre seed funding round led by Sheikh Ahmed bin Mana bin Khalifa Saeed Al Maktoum, as the company looks to scale its food waste reduction platform across the UAE and beyond. The funding round and its strategic objectives were first reported by Wamda, which highlighted growing investor interest in impact-driven consumer startups in the region.

Founded in 2025 by Archie Rudyuk, ThrowMeNot operates an online marketplace that redistributes near expiry and surplus products, ranging from food items to beauty and wellness goods at discounts of up to 90%. The model allows suppliers to recover value from excess inventory while giving consumers access to lower cost, high quality products that might otherwise go to waste. This business model and early traction were detailed by Waya Media, which noted the platform’s dual impact on affordability and sustainability.

According to company data, ThrowMeNot currently works with over 25 suppliers, listing more than 2,700 products from 885+ brands on its platform. The newly raised capital will be used to expand its team, strengthen logistics, and enhance last mile delivery and fulfillment capabilities to support growing demand across the UAE.

ThrowMeNot’s mission aligns closely with the UAE’s National Food Loss and Waste Initiative (ne’ma), which aims to halve food waste by 2030. With an estimated 3.27 million tonnes of food wasted annually in the UAE, the startup positions itself as a market based solution that makes waste reduction commercially viable for suppliers while convenient for consumers.

Looking ahead, ThrowMeNot plans to expand beyond the UAE into other MENA markets, gradually building a broader ecosystem of sustainability focused commerce that extends beyond food into other surplus consumer goods categories. Its regional expansion ambitions, framing the startup as part of a wider movement toward circular economy models in the Middle East.