In the busy digital world of the Middle East, where new ideas meet old ones, Mona Ataya’s story is one of the best examples of resilience and foresight. Ataya is a pioneer from Palestine who has built a multimillion-dollar e-commerce empire and become a role model for women business owners all over the Arab world. Ataya is the founder and CEO of Mumzworld, the best online place for moms, babies, and kids in the region. Her story shows how you can turn your own problems into opportunities for everyone. Ataya’s impact goes far beyond boardrooms in 2025. She is shaping economies, empowering communities, and changing what it means to be a working mother in a region that is changing quickly. She is also expanding her businesses and mentoring the next generation.
From Corporate Halls to Entrepreneurial Fire: The First Sparks
Mona Ataya’s road to success was not straight. She was born with an entrepreneurial spirit, and as a child in Kuwait, she learned about business by selling packs of Hubba Bubba chewing gum that her father brought over from the United States. This was a rare treat in the local market. In a candid podcast interview, she says, “That was my first hundred dollars.” She talks about how exciting it was to find a gap and fill it. This early hustle was a sign of a career full of chances and boldness.
Ataya’s career took off in the fast-moving consumer goods business. She worked for global giants Procter & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson to improve her skills. In 2000, she moved to the Middle East, ready to use her skills in a region that needed change. She helped start Bayt.com, the best job site in the Middle East and North Africa, here. Ataya was the Vice President of Marketing, and she played a key role in growing the platform, figuring out how to work in the new digital economy, and making connections that would help her in the future.
But it was becoming a mother that sparked her biggest adventure. Ataya had to deal with the problems of shopping for baby supplies in Dubai, where she raised three children. Prices were sky-high, there weren’t many options, and there wasn’t much community support. “I was the customer, and the need was clear: price, choice, community,” she said in a recent talk about founder-market fit. She started Mumzworld.com from her kitchen table in 2011, when the Arab Spring was still going on and things were uncertain. What began as a simple online store for moms has grown into a huge business that serves over 2.5 million customers in the Arab world and sells more than 350,000 items from 6,500 brands around the world.
Mumzworld’s Rise and Beyond: Building an Empire
Mumzworld didn’t just survive under Ataya’s leadership; it thrived. The platform grew into a full ecosystem that combined transactional e-commerce with experiential features like parenting tips, community forums, and personalized suggestions. It had raised money in more than six rounds by 2021, making it the Middle East’s most-funded e-commerce company run by women. The Tamer Group from Saudi Arabia bought a majority stake in Mumzworld that same year. This made Mumzworld the first homegrown e-commerce company in the region to reach this level. Ataya is now the Group CEO for Tamer’s digital assets. He leads a team of 450 people and is opening more fulfillment centers in Dubai South and Saudi Arabia.
She didn’t just want to make baby things. Ataya started Pharmaciaty.com in 2023. It’s a vertical e-commerce brand that focuses on healthcare in Saudi Arabia. She plans to enter the UAE market in early 2024, which shows how good she is at finding underserved niches. Mumzworld is still coming up with new ideas as of late 2025. For example, they are using AI to “remove friction” from customer experiences, such as faster deliveries and smarter product curation. At events like the India Global Forum in Dubai, Ataya has talked about how AI is changing the way people are hired and teams are built. She has called for progress in the future of work that puts people first.
Ataya has a very clear purpose in how he runs his business. “It’s not about making money; it’s about putting the pieces together,” she says, driven by her passion, conviction, and sense of duty to her stakeholders. Mumzworld has won awards for this philosophy, including the Images Most Admired Online Retailer of the Year award in 2014 and 2016 and the Customer Service Excellence Award in 2018.
A Champion for Women: Helping and Supporting
Ataya’s influence goes beyond business; she is a strong supporter of women’s rights in the digital age. She is a board member of the Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy and a representative for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). She fights for more opportunities for women in tech ecosystems. In 2014, she was chosen as the first woman in the Endeavor network in the Middle East. Since then, she has mentored young female entrepreneurs all year long and often tells her story at global forums.
As an eTrade for Women Advocate for Arab States from 2021 to 2023, she worked even harder to make women digital entrepreneurs a force for creating wealth for everyone. In 2025, she joined high-profile panels like a fireside chat at CloudWorld and Shark Tank Dubai, where she inspired people with stories of hard work and new ideas. What does Ataya say? “The real change is coming from within the region, and it’s being led by Arab women who are brave enough to leave their comfort zones.”
Awards and Legacy: More than 100 and counting
People all over the world have praised Ataya’s pioneering work. She has won more than 100 awards, including being named one of the 100 Most Powerful Businesswomen by Forbes Middle East in 2023 and 2024 (she was ranked #27 in the latter), one of the 100 Most Powerful Arab Women by Arabian Business, and one of the 100 Most Powerful Arabs by World’s 100 Most Powerful Arabs – Generation Next. She was nominated for Forbes’ Top 10 Arab Women in 2017 and 2018. She was also one of the top two Forbes women making a difference in the region.
Ataya talked about her journey as an entrepreneur at the Global Women’s Forum Dubai 2024 as part of “Inspiring Stories from Dubai to the World.” This made her an even better role model. Her story, which is based on inner strength and an unyielding drive, resonates deeply in a region where female founders still face challenges.
Looking Ahead: A Future of Growth and Empowerment
Mona Ataya is still going strong as 2025 comes to an end. Mumzworld and Pharmaciaty.com are both ready to grow even more, and she is still involved in projects like the Dubai Future Foundation’s Fellowship Program. This puts her at the front of the Middle East’s digital renaissance. What does she tell women who want to start their own businesses? Be brave, creative, and loyal as you work toward your goals. These are qualities she shows in everything she does.
Mona Ataya isn’t just starting companies; she’s leaving a mark on history. Her story shows us that real innovation often starts at home. She went from being a frustrated mother in Dubai to a multimillion-dollar gateway for millions of families. Ataya shows that in a world that needs people to be flexible, you can really change the region—one mom at a time—if you have a goal and keep going.
