Users can search by price, ratings, category, or reviews. For transparency and safety, businesses must upload a commercial license, and individual users are advised to meet performers before finalising bookings.

“It’s not a hand-holding service,” he says. “We’ve made it efficient and safe, but the final agreement is between the two parties. We just facilitate the connection.”

Acting, however, is one category the platform currently excludes.

“Actors require a whole team to evaluate them. Acting isn’t something you can showcase effectively in 90 seconds,” Nizar explains. “We’ve focused on talents that lend themselves to quick discovery—like musicians, dancers, comedians, and magicians.”

A tool for a growing market

MADE also serves a practical role in the UAE’s fast-growing entertainment and events ecosystem.

“Entertainment is evolving rapidly in this region,” Nizar notes. “Younger generations are increasingly choosing freelance creative careers over traditional employment, and platforms like ours help support that shift.”

He’s clear that MADE isn’t trying to cut out agencies—it’s trying to work with them.

“Agents can use our app too,” he says. “It helps them present their talent faster. The market is growing fast enough that there’s space for all of us.”

And when it comes to production companies, Nizar says the app has already proved useful for locating videographers, stylists, editors, and more.

“If someone wants to find an Ethiopian dancer for a shoot—they don’t need to make a dozen calls. They can just search.”

Why Dubai?

Nizar says Dubai was the natural place to build and launch MADE.

“Dubai offers the infrastructure, the talent, and the support systems,” he says. “We’re based in Innovation Gate, which is backed by Sheikh Hamdan’s initiatives. This ecosystem makes it easier for ideas to become businesses.”

With tech migration rising and entrepreneurs relocating from the US, Europe, and Asia, Nizar sees Dubai as uniquely positioned to lead the next wave of creative-tech innovation.

“There’s momentum here,” he adds. “And the kind of people this city attracts—ambitious, creative, global—it makes sense to build something like MADE here.”

MADE is currently live in the UAE and is expected to roll out across Saudi Arabia and the wider GCC soon. The app is free to download, with users getting a couple of free posts or connections per month. A subscription unlocks additional features, but the core service remains accessible.

“The goal is to keep it open and inclusive,” Nizar says. “Let people test it, use it, and build their visibility.”

His long-term vision? For his home-grown app to be a standard tool used by events, businesses—even cruise ships docking in Dubai—looking for performers and creators on short notice.

“The whole point is to remove barriers,” he says. “A lot of people have talent but don’t know where to start. If MADE becomes their starting point, then that’s already a success.”

Dubai 2003 has put the emirate in the spotlight