CarniStore
CarniStore is a Dubai-based online butcher and smokehouse founded in 2018, which received a AED 45 million minority investment from the Emirates Growth Fund in March 2026.
Industry: Premium meat and protein retail | Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates | Founded: 2018 | Total Funding: USD 12.3M
About CarniStore
CarniStore is a UAE-based premium food platform that describes itself as a modern meat supplier combining heritage butchery with a digital-first approach. It was founded in 2018 by Fikry Boutros and Daniel Wanies, who both serve as co-CEOs. The company is based in Dubai and has a presence at Alserkal Avenue, where it has hosted pop-ups. Its model is vertically integrated, combining sourcing, in-house processing and distribution across meat, poultry, seafood and smoked products, and it serves both consumers and businesses. In March 2026 the company took AED 45 million, about USD 12.2 million, from the Emirates Growth Fund (EGF). The investment is a strategic minority stake and was announced by EGF through WAM on 1 April 2026, with other outlets carrying the news from 30 March. EGF is described as the UAE's AED 1 billion growth equity platform, backed by Emirates Development Bank. The round is classed as undisclosed in type; it is EGF's first investment in the food sector. According to EGF, the capital is meant to accelerate CarniStore's industrial scaling, support expansion into new product categories and verticals, and strengthen operational capabilities. The fund said it would also work with the founders on governance structures, go-to-market strategy and internal systems while leaving the company's identity intact. CarniStore is expected to expand across the UAE and potentially into wider regional markets. The fund targets what it calls the missing middle: growth-stage businesses that have outgrown early-stage funding but still need capital and strategic support. The deal has been tied by commentators to UAE efforts on food security, including initiatives to boost local production, improve supply-chain resilience and reduce import reliance, and to a strategy of building homegrown companies that can scale regionally. Boutros told EnterpriseAM in April 2026 that the EGF partnership felt like a natural next step for the business. He also described how the idea originated: after about 18 years in engineering and construction he wrote his MBA thesis on opening a butchery in Dubai, then took a butchery course in the UK.
Leadership
- Daniel Wanies, Co-founder
- Fikry Boutros, Co-founder