Marble scraps to global business: How a Dubai teen started a kids' art trend

She was born into the world of mosaic in Tunisia.

 It wasn’t just a hobby or a lifestyle. It was life itself.

For 20-year-old Bochra Bargaoui, a student at Dubai’s University of Europe for Applied Sciences, choosing mosaic as a career felt inevitable. Surrounded by it, growing up, it was her second nature. “Everywhere you went, you would find the art form, from walls, mirrors, desks, to tables, chairs, and floors. Every house had it,” she says.

Surrounded by mosaic manufacturers, it felt only natural for her to take it further—so she launched Bochra Bargaoui Neptune, a sustainable startup that transforms discarded marble into mosaic art.

What began as a passion has evolved into an international business, built by environmental values and strong cultural pride. “When I was 17, I decided to start the business. I wanted to do what I love, but without hurting the environment,” she explains. The concept behind Neptune was born in Tunisia, where Bargaoui’s team of local artisans began repurposing marble waste into handcrafted mosaics. The idea, as she explains, is to convert construction waste into art—using discarded marble to create something beautiful and meaningful. You begin to see what this means to her: The marble finds new life in a children’s puzzle.

The puzzle boxes are settled next to her, one of them being an owl. The creation itself is different: The owl is winking, a little stylistic choice that a child over the age of three will enjoy.  At this point, she brandishes a puzzle box with much pride. As she says, with each box, comes a design, marble bits and pieces, and glue. She even does a little for us: She sits, takes out the box, picks up a puzzle, carefully takes out the marble bits and pieces from the packet, unwrapping the glue, and begins filling in the puzzles.

There are a few moments of quiet dedication. It’s the same commitment that she brought to UAE, just seven months ago, to study, along with ambition and dreams of a legacy.

Soon after arriving in the UAE in 2024, Bargaoui joined an acceleration program for entrepreneurs, in her university. “In our first month, we had sessions, and I had the opportunity to participate,” she recalls. “I was selected in the top 40, and then the top 10 to graduate after seven months. The acceleration program took our business to a new level.”

Through the program, Bargaoui and her team were introduced to investors, marketing professionals, and retail partners. “We developed a full marketing strategy and launched new products, including decorative mosaic tiles for walls and floors,” she says.

Their efforts paid off, Bochra Neptune has since secured a presence in major markets, including Carrefour in the UAE and even Barnes & Noble.

“We now have more than 40 employees and freelancers,” Bargaoui shares. “I’m the CEO and founder, and the rest of the team is based in Tunisia.” Creativity, the love for what they do, is what propels the business forward, and driven by eco-conscious practices. Balancing creativity and business is not a problem, as she says with a little laugh, the business is based on creativity. “Our catalogue has more than 2,000 designs, and we use eco-friendly materials for packaging, exporting, and importing,” she says.

The company’s impact is already global. “We’re successfully engaged in 20 countries, including the USA and Europe,” she adds.

But beyond business, Bochra’s mission is to preserve a tradition while reimagining it for the future. “What I love about mosaic is that it’s lifelong, sustainable. It doesn’t break easily. It endures. It stays, and you’ll see that, even when you give it to a child.”