Boom, a Dubai-based delivery app that matches small businesses and individuals with nearby freelance couriers, was started by two Emirati friends who built it while holding full-time government jobs, according to an interview published by Emirates 24|7 on October 27. The app won both Dubai’s App of the Year 2025 and Most Impactful App at the Create Apps Championship run by the Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy.
Co-founder Mariam Khalifa Alnuaimi told the newspaper the idea came from her own failed attempt to launch a home-based business. “After completing all the preparations and obtaining the commercial license, I was unable to solve the delivery crisis and the lack of flexible options that serve business owners,” she was quoted as saying.
What the company does
Boom runs what it calls a community-powered courier network. According to the interview, the platform has three sides. Individuals seeking extra income register as couriers and choose the times and areas they work. Customers place urgent, 24-hour or round-trip orders. Business owners can send single or bulk orders and set their own delivery prices, which the founders said lets them reach customers in remote areas and cut operating costs.
The company’s website says it offers same-day, door-to-door delivery across all seven emirates, with live tracking and payment per trip rather than by subscription. The founders said couriers register through an approved process linked to Emirates ID fingerprint verification and that prices are shown before an order is accepted, with no hidden commission.
The founders
Boom’s website lists Mariam Alnuaimi as co-founder and chief executive and Mariam Almarri as co-founder and chief technology officer. Emirates 24|7 reported that Alnuaimi works as a future forecasting analyst at Abu Dhabi Police and Almarri as a monitoring specialist at the Ministry of Education. Both are graduates in quality management and strategy from the Higher Colleges of Technology, the founders said.
Almarri said she had just finished a course in user experience design and earned certifications in artificial intelligence when Alnuaimi shared the idea. “The biggest challenge was building an integrated platform that was technically strong and simple for the user at the same time, while balancing this work with our full-time jobs,” she was quoted as saying.
Funding and support
Boom has not announced a venture capital round. Its main backing so far has come through the Create Apps Championship. At the April 2025 final at the Museum of the Future, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, honored four winners selected from 12 finalists and more than 4,710 submissions, according to Dubai Chambers. Each winner received a prize worth $150,000, along with support from the chamber in business licensing, banking services and access to partners and clients.
The founders told Emirates 24|7 that they received funding from the Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy after the win. Dubai-based developer Blink22 says on its website that it designed and built Boom’s app for customers and couriers, along with an admin dashboard, over about four months, from June to September 2025.
Traction and market
Boom has not disclosed order volumes, courier numbers or revenue. The founders said the platform was founded in 2025 and that recruiting couriers had been the hardest part of building the business. “Building a reliable network takes time, and the competition in the delivery sector is crowded,” they were quoted as saying, adding that they did not set out to copy the model of large delivery companies but to serve small shops and individuals that need flexibility on timing and price.
In comments carried by WAM on September 29, Alnuaimi said Dubai’s innovation ecosystem, including platforms such as Expand North Star, helped turn Boom from an idea into a scalable venture.
What’s next
The founders said their meeting with Sheikh Hamdan gave them an incentive for what they described as well-considered expansion, with the aim of making Boom a trusted name in shipping. They did not give a timeline or say whether they plan to raise outside capital.
This series earlier profiled Vitalls, the Dubai-based digital health passport company, and Popcorn AI Studio, the Dubai-based Arabic-first AI video platform.
