Emergeast
Emergeast is the first online art gallery exclusively representing Middle East and North Africa artists, operating a London-based e-commerce platform that sells original artworks, limited editions, and NFTs from 75 artists across 16 countries to individual collectors and corporate clients.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2014
- HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
What Emergeast does
Emergeast is a London-registered private limited company (EMERGEAST LTD., company number 8564737) operating the first online art gallery exclusively representing artists from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Founded in 2014 by Dima Abdul Kader and Nikki Meftah, the platform curates a catalog of 416 active artworks from 75 artists across 16 countries, with pricing tiers ranging from under $500 to $10,000+ and a concentration in the $1,000-$5,000 range. The technology stack centers on a WordPress-based e-commerce site (emergeast.com) featuring a proprietary 'Preview in a Room' visualization tool, filtering by style/origin/medium/price, and global checkout supporting credit cards, bank wires, and Bitcoin/Ethereum via Coinbase Commerce.
The business operates three revenue streams: (i) transaction-based commission on direct art sales, (ii) professional art consultancy fees for corporate, hospitality, healthcare, and institutional clients (e.g., Northwestern Al Fardan Medical Centre, Nasab Co-Working, Saudi Arabian Consulate in Abu Dhabi), and (iii) NFT sales through OpenSea.io and CNN's Vault marketplace following the 2022 NFT M.E. launch. Distribution blends direct-to-consumer e-commerce, WhatsApp-assisted sales, art fair participation (Art Dubai Digital, Frieze London), and physical exhibition partnerships (Subliminal Projects in LA, J Nicholls Projects in London, Hunna Art Gallery).
Emergeast's customer segments include young individual collectors (primary), corporate and hospitality buyers (primary), museums and institutions (secondary), and digital/NFT collectors (secondary). The company is bootstrapped with no disclosed external funding and is led by the two co-founders who remain actively involved in curation and operations. Press recognition includes CNN, The Art Newspaper, Artnet News, GQ Middle East, Harpers Bazaar Arabia, and Grazia, with a landmark 2025 placement at Harrods' Somewhere restaurant signaling growing luxury retail credibility for represented artists.
Emergeast firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Emergeast
- Legal name
- EMERGEAST LTD.
- Website
- https://emergeast.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2014
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Emergeast is the first online art gallery exclusively representing Middle East and North Africa artists, operating a London-based e-commerce platform that sells original artworks, limited editions, and NFTs from 75 artists across 16 countries to individual collectors and corporate clients.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Emergeast industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Online Art Gallery
- NAICS
- Art Dealers (45992)
- SIC
- Services-Mailing, Reproduction, Commercial Art & Photography (7330)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Art & 1/1 Digital Art NFT Marketplaces (FSADANAB)
Keywords
Where Emergeast is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- London
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Emergeast business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Operations, Others
Revenue model
- Art Sales: Commission-based sales of original artworks and limited edition prints from MENA region artists. Transaction-based model where customers purchase artworks directly through the platform at listed prices.
- Art Consultancy Services: Corporate, hospitality and private art consultancy including acquisitions, commissioning, and collection development for projects such as hotels, restaurants, co-working spaces, medical centers, and consulates.
- NFT Sales: Sale of digital artworks as NFTs, including exclusive drops through partnerships like Vault by CNN x Emergeast.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Entry-level artworks under $1,000 |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Mid-range artworks $1,000-$2,500 |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Upper mid-range artworks $2,500-$5,000 |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Premium artworks $5,000+ |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels9 records
Emergeast product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Emergeast operates an online art gallery that sells original artworks and limited edition prints from emerging and mid-career artists across the Middle East and North Africa. The platform curates 416+ artworks from 75 artists spanning 16 countries at price points from under $500 to over $10,000, with worldwide shipping. Beyond retail e-commerce, the company offers dedicated art consultancy services for corporate, hospitality, healthcare, and museum clients, plus NFT exhibitions hosted on OpenSea.io and CNN's Vault marketplace.
Product overview
Emergeast operates as a unified digital art commerce platform combining an online gallery marketplace (featuring 416+ artworks), NFT exhibitions, and art consultancy services. The core offering centers on the e-commerce platform at emergeast.com where collectors purchase Middle Eastern art directly. The NFT platform extends digital offerings through OpenSea.io partnerships. Art Consultancy Services provide B2B acquisitions, commissioning, and project curation for corporate and private collections. The platform includes auction capabilities, curated exhibitions (both online and physical), and artist profile management. All components share the same infrastructure, with NFT and auction features available alongside the standard art marketplace, while consultancy operates as an additional service layer.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Emergeast Online Art Gallery The primary e-commerce platform serving as the first online art gallery representing artists from the Middle East and North Africa, offering 416+ curated original artworks and limited edition prints for direct purchase by collectors globally.
- Emergeast NFT Platform Dedicated NFT exhibition and digital art platform enabling MENA artists to mint and sell digital artworks as non-fungible tokens, with distribution through OpenSea.io and CNN's Vault marketplace.
- Emergeast Auctions Online auction service for collectible artworks from MENA artists, featuring periodic auction editions with competitive bidding.
- Art Consultancy Services Corporate, hospitality, healthcare, and private art consultancy services including acquisitions, commissioning, and project-based artwork curation for hotels, restaurants, co-working spaces, medical centers, and consulates.
- Emergeast Exhibitions Curated online and in-person exhibitions featuring MENA artists, including group shows, solo presentations, and collaborative exhibitions with partner galleries such as Subliminal Projects and Hunna Art Gallery.
Quantifiable outcome
- Featured at Harrods' new restaurant Somewhere
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Emergeast
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Emergeast technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration5 records
Feature1 record
Emergeast partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Harrods (Somewhere Restaurant)coreEmergeast artists' works featured at Harrods' new restaurant 'Somewhere', representing a landmark placement for the gallery's artists in a luxury retail context.
- Subliminal ProjectscoreCollaboration for Boundless/Binding exhibition, a group show presenting works by globally-based Middle Eastern female artists. This partnership represents a key in-person exhibition channel for the gallery.
- Hunna Art GallerycoreCollaboration with Hunna Art at Subliminal Projects gallery in Los Angeles for the Boundless/Binding exhibition, focusing on Middle Eastern female artists.
- WAGMI (Kuwait)minorParticipation in the first IRL NFT exhibition in Kuwait, WAGMI, curated by Shurooq Amin, at CAP Kuwait.
- J Nicholls ProjectsminorCollaboration for Tarik Chebli's solo show Euphoric Nature in London during Frieze Art Fair 2022, marking Emergeast's first solo exhibition in London.
- CNN (Vault)corePartnership with CNN's NFT marketplace (Vault by CNN x Emergeast) for exclusive NFT drops, including an exclusive drop by Muhcine Ennou. This partnership provides access to CNN's audience for NFT sales.
- Selma Feriani GalleryminorArtist Myriame Dachraoui completed a residency at l'atelier Selma Feriani in 2023. Her work is also sought for Selma Feriani Collection, Tunisia's premier art institution.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Emergeast competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Artsy: Global online art marketplace connecting collectors with galleries and auction houses. Directly comparable as the leading online platform for buying original art, serving the same collector persona that Emergeast targets.
- Artfinder: Online marketplace for original art from independent artists and small galleries, with a focus on affordable price points and emerging talent. Comparable in target segment and marketplace mechanics to Emergeast.
- Saatchi Art: Online art gallery offering original works and limited editions from emerging artists worldwide with price points under $10,000. Closely comparable business model, target customer (young aspirational collectors), and curated marketplace approach.
Broad incumbents
- Opera Gallery: International contemporary art gallery with locations in Dubai, London, Paris, New York, and beyond, featuring Middle Eastern artists alongside Modern and Contemporary Western art. Comparable in MENA representation and global footprint, but with broader programming.
- Christie's: Global auction house with significant Middle Eastern art auctions and Dubai presence. Comparable for collectors acquiring MENA contemporary art, but operates at much higher price points and through auction rather than fixed-price gallery model.
- 1stDibs: Online marketplace for luxury items including fine art, jewelry, and furniture. Comparable as a higher-end e-commerce platform for collectible art but operates across multiple luxury verticals beyond Emergeast's art-only focus.
- Sotheby's: Global auction house with dedicated Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern art sales and a Dubai office. Comparable for high-end MENA art collectors and as a benchmark for prestige, but operates a fundamentally different auction-based model.
Emerging players
- SuperRare: NFT art marketplace focused on curated digital art by individual artists. Comparable as a marketplace for unique digital artworks and NFTs, overlapping with Emergeast's NFT platform strategy.
Regional players
- The Third Line: Dubai-based contemporary art gallery representing Middle Eastern artists with a focus on regional practitioners. Directly comparable as a MENA-focused gallery representing emerging artists, but operates primarily through a physical Dubai space rather than DTC e-commerce.
- Lawrie Shabibi: Dubai-based contemporary art gallery representing Middle Eastern and international artists. Comparable MENA-region positioning and representation of emerging regional artists, though with a broader geographic artist mix.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Emergeast social profiles
Digital presenceEmergeast financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Emergeast leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Emergeast funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Emergeast M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Emergeast
What does Emergeast do?
Emergeast operates an online art gallery that sells original artworks and limited edition prints from emerging and mid-career artists across the Middle East and North Africa. The platform curates 416+ artworks from 75 artists spanning 16 countries at price points from under $500 to over $10,000, with worldwide shipping. Beyond retail e-commerce, the company offers dedicated art consultancy services for corporate, hospitality, healthcare, and museum clients, plus NFT exhibitions hosted on OpenSea.io and CNN's Vault marketplace.
Is Emergeast a public or private company?
Emergeast is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Emergeast founded?
Emergeast was founded in 2014. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Emergeast based?
Emergeast is headquartered in London, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Emergeast make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Art Sales are the primary driver. The others are art Consultancy Services and NFT Sales.
Who are Emergeast's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Artsy, Artfinder and Saatchi Art. Broad incumbents are Opera Gallery, Christie's, 1stDibs and Sotheby's. SuperRare is listed as an emerging player. Regional players are The Third Line and Lawrie Shabibi.
Does Emergeast have an API?
No public API is recorded for Emergeast.
What industry is Emergeast in?
Emergeast's product category is Online Art Gallery. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSADANAB, Art & 1/1 Digital Art NFT Marketplaces. Its NAICS code is 45992 and its SIC code is 7330.