What Sole does

Sole, operating as Sole DXB through its legal entity Sole Apparel FZ LLC, is a Dubai-based independent community-driven platform that produces the annual Sole DXB festival at Dubai Design District (d3). Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Dubai, UAE, the company positions itself as the leading voice for youth and contemporary culture across the Middle East and North Africa. Its core product is a three-day annual music, arts, and culture festival featuring live performances, DJ sets, art installations, food and beverage pavilions, basketball tournaments, sneaker swaps, and a vintage and thrift market. The festival runs an all-ages format with designated 21+ alcohol service zones, and the 2025 and 2026 editions have been confirmed.

The product portfolio is structured around a tiered ticketing system, with passes sold as 3-Day or Single-Day options across four tiers: General Admission, VIP Grandstand 21+, Golden Circle 21+, and Golden Circle All Ages. Children's entry and People of Determination entry are free. Tickets are sold through Platinumlist (a third-party ticketing partner) using wave-based pricing (First Wave through Day of Show) with on-site physical ticket counters at the venue. An official merchandise store at store.sole.digital offers exclusive collaborations and limited-edition designs, though it is currently showing as unavailable. The company uses Mailchimp for email marketing, Meta Pixel for ad tracking, and Google Analytics for traffic analysis; no proprietary technology platform, mobile app, or AI/ML capabilities are disclosed.

Sole monetizes through four revenue streams: ticket sales (primary), vendor participation fees from brands and F&B operators (e.g., Shake Shack, Kayali, Mirzam), corporate sponsorship deals (e.g., ASICS, A.P.C., Champion, Fred Perry, G-Shock, DJI), and on-site merchandise sales. Customer acquisition is event-driven and community-led, relying on organic social channels (Instagram, YouTube, TikTok), email newsletters, the official website, and PR/earned media. The company is privately held with no disclosed parent, institutional investors, or funding rounds, operating with a lean team of approximately 21 employees under founder ownership. Compliance is maintained with the UAE Personal Data Protection Law (PDPL).

Name

Sole

Legal name

Sole Apparel FZ LLC

Website

https://sole.digital

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Sole DXB is a Dubai-based independent community platform that produces an annual three-day music, arts, and culture festival at Dubai Design District for MENA youth audiences, monetizing through tiered ticket sales, brand sponsorships, vendor participation fees, and merchandise.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Dubai

HQ country

United Arab Emirates

HQ region

Middle East

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Ticket Sales: Revenue generated from ticket sales for Sole DXB festival events, including various tiers such as General Admission, VIP Grandstand, Golden Circle 21+, and Golden Circle All Ages passes, available as 3-Day or Single-Day options.
2. Vendor Participation Fees: Revenue from brands and companies paying to participate as vendors at the Sole DXB festival, including booth space and brand experiences.
3. Sponsorship Deals: Revenue from corporate sponsors seeking brand visibility and association with the youth and contemporary culture festival audience.
4. Merchandise Sales: Sales of official Sole DXB merchandise including exclusive collaborations and limited-edition designs at the festival.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Sole operates the annual Sole DXB Festival, a three-day music, arts, and culture event held at Dubai Design District (d3) in Dubai, UAE. The festival brings together live music, DJ sets, art installations, brand experiences, food and beverage pavilions, basketball tournaments, sneaker swaps, and vintage markets, serving as a community-driven platform for youth and contemporary culture across the MENA region.

Product overview

Sole is an independent community-driven platform and the leading voice for youth and contemporary culture across the Middle East and North Africa. The primary product offering is the Sole DXB annual festival, a three-day music, arts, and culture event held at Dubai Design District. The product portfolio includes the core festival experience along with multiple ticket tiers (3-Day Pass, Single-Day Pass, General Admission, VIP Grandstand 21+, Golden Circle 21+, Golden Circle All Ages) providing varying levels of access and amenities including fast-track entry, dedicated F&B service, priority parking, and premium viewing areas. An official merchandise store (currently unavailable) offers exclusive festival collaborations and limited-edition designs. The festival integrates with Platinumlist for ticketing and uses third-party marketing platforms (Mailchimp, Meta Pixel, Google Analytics) for communications and analytics.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Sole DXB Festival Annual three-day music, arts, and culture festival in Dubai Design District featuring live performances, DJ sets, installations, brand experiences, food pavilions, basketball tournaments, sneaker swap, and vintage market. The platform serves as the leading voice for youth and contemporary culture across the Middle East and North Africa, targeting young people and culture enthusiasts interested in music, art, streetwear, sneaker culture, and contemporary urban culture.
• Sole DXB Store Official merchandise store offering exclusive collaborations, limited-edition designs, and festival merchandise for Sole DXB festival attendees and brand enthusiasts.

Named customers9 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• PlatinumlistcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorOfficial ticketing partner for Sole DXB events. Handles online ticket sales, ticket validation, wristband issuance, and door pricing management. Located at dubai.platinumlist.net for ticket purchases.
• ASICScoreGTM or Marketing PartnerSports and lifestyle brand that partnered with Sole DXB for exclusive events including the Sole DXB x ASICS Afterparty featuring JULS, demonstrating brand integration into festival programming.
• Mass AppealcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerHip-hop media and entertainment company presenting artists KR$NA and RAFTAAR at Sole DXB, representing cultural programming partnership.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• ComplexCon: ComplexCon is a streetwear, music, and pop culture festival that combines live performances, brand drops, and art installations. It is directly comparable to Sole DXB in fusing music with streetwear and sneaker culture, targeting a similar Gen Z / millennial audience.
• III Points: III Points is an annual music, art, and technology festival held in Miami, Florida. It is directly comparable to Sole DXB in its interdisciplinary programming combining live music, art installations, and brand experiences for a culturally engaged audience.
• MDLBEAST: MDLBEAST operates Soundstorm, the largest music and culture festival in the Middle East, based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It is directly comparable to Sole DXB as a regional youth-culture music festival targeting a similar MENA demographic, but operates at substantially larger scale with government backing and broader artist rosters.
• Rolling Loud: Rolling Loud is the world's largest hip-hop festival, with editions in the US, Europe, and Asia. It is directly comparable to Sole DXB in targeting youth, streetwear, and hip-hop audiences with multi-stage programming and brand activations, though at a much larger global scale.
• Wireless Festival: Wireless Festival is a UK-based urban music and culture festival featuring hip-hop, R&B, grime, and electronic artists. It is directly comparable to Sole DXB in programming urban contemporary music for a youth audience with brand activations and VIP tiers.
• Tomorrowland: Tomorrowland is one of the world's largest electronic dance music festivals, held annually in Belgium with global editions. It is comparable to Sole DXB as a destination music festival featuring DJ sets, brand experiences, and stage production, though at a global mega-festival scale.

Broad incumbents

• AEG Presents: AEG Presents is one of the world's largest live entertainment and sporting event promoters, producing festivals including Coachella. It is a broad incumbent peer to Sole DXB in festival and live event promotion, though operating across multiple genres, venues, and continents.
• Live Nation: Live Nation is the world's largest live entertainment company, producing and promoting thousands of concerts and festivals globally. It is a broad incumbent comparable to Sole DXB as a festival promoter and operator, though at vastly greater scale and with a diverse portfolio across genres and geographies.

Regional players

• Groove on the Grass: Groove on the Grass is an electronic and live music festival held in Abu Dhabi, UAE. It is a regional peer to Sole DXB in the UAE live-music festival market, though with a more electronic-music-focused programming and a smaller scale footprint.
• Untold Festival: Untold is a major electronic music festival held in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, with growing international footprint. It is a regional peer comparable to Sole DXB in single-festival scale and youth electronic-music positioning, though operating in a different European geography rather than MENA.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks1 record

Key highlights3 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@sole_dxb
• Instagraminstagram.com/soledxb
• TikToktiktok.com/@soledxb
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/soledxb1

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sole