In Dubai, where many businesses begin with a pitch deck or a market gap, Cake in the City began with a recipe.
Founder Naveen Raza Walji spent more than 16 years refining her signature cheesecakes before launching the homegrown bakery brand in 2025. What started in her kitchen, shared with family and friends, has grown into an online boutique bakery known across the UAE for handcrafted cheesecakes made in small batches.
“Feeding people has always been my love language. What started in my Dubai kitchen to spoil family and friends has now grown into something I’m so proud to share across the UAE,” says Naveen.
The story behind the business is not one of reinvention so much as accumulation. Naveen has built a career in banking spanning more than two decades, while also raising three boys and steadily developing a product people kept urging her to sell. That long lead time shows in the brand itself: careful, disciplined and quietly confident.
Naveen was born in Abu Dhabi and raised in northwest London with her four sisters, in a family where hospitality was part of everyday life. She credits those early years, and particularly watching her mother host family and friends, with shaping the way she thinks about food.
“I come from a big family and growing up I always admired my mother making feasts and hosting family and friends with so much joy; she made it look effortless,” she says.
She later studied Economics and Statistics at University College London, before beginning a career with an international investment bank. During her penultimate year at university, she became the first covered woman to work on the trading floor at the Bank’s global headquarters in Canary Wharf. She later joined their Graduate Programme and went on to build a career across Islamic finance, retail banking, private banking, strategy, financial inclusion and sustainability.
Today, she is Head of Net Zero Transition for Middle East North Africa and Türkiye (MENAT) based out of Dubai and with the same international bank. That professional background helps explain the character of Cake in the City. Although the brand is creative at its core, it is shaped by the discipline of someone used to structure, consistency and long-term thinking.
Naveen moved to Dubai with her husband in 2010, and the city became both home and backdrop to the next phase of her life. It is where her family grew, where her career evolved, and where baking gradually moved from a personal passion to a public-facing business.
“Dubai is such an iconic city,” she says. “This is where the inspiration for the name and logo came from. I wanted to incorporate the spirit of the city into the brand and show that it’s truly homegrown right here in the UAE.”
That sense of place matters. In a city shaped by movement, diversity and constant reinvention, Cake in the City taps into something more intimate: desserts as part of family tables, celebrations, gifts and shared moments.
Naveen says the business did not begin with a formal plan, but with years of encouragement from the people around her. Friends and family repeatedly told her the cheesecakes deserved a wider audience. By the time she launched in 2025, the concept had already been tested in the most direct way possible: people wanted more.
That patient build is part of what gives the brand its credibility. Naveen did not rush to market. She spent years refining the recipe, the process and the identity of the business before making it official.
Cake in the City has since stood out for combining warmth with precision. The cheesecakes feel personal, but the business is run with professional discipline. Each product is handmade in small batches, but consistency remains central to the brand.
That balance also defines Naveen’s life more broadly. Alongside a demanding corporate career, she is raising three sons while building a business of her own. She often sums it up simply: banker by day, baker by night, mum all the time.
“I want to be a role model for my boys,” she says. “I want them to dare to dream big and believe that they can achieve anything they set their mind to.”
Her story will resonate with many professionals whose ambitions have had to live alongside full calendars, family responsibilities and practical constraints. In Naveen’s case, entrepreneurship was not a sudden leap. It was a long-held idea that eventually found its moment.
“Most people would love to create something of their own and to leave a legacy behind,” she says. “For me, Cake in the City is something I had been building in my mind for years. I was just waiting for the right opportunity to launch it.”
In the UAE, where a growing number of homegrown brands are being built on personal stories and community support, Cake in the City reflects a wider shift. Consumers are increasingly drawn to businesses that feel specific, rooted and authentic.
Naveen’s background in banking gives the brand structure. Her years spent perfecting the product give it substance. Together, they have shaped a business that feels both polished and personal.
Cake in the City may still be young, but its foundations are unusually deep. Behind the brand is not only a founder with professional experience, but a product developed over many years and a business built with patience.
For Naveen, the appeal of the venture lies in something simple: creating moments of joy through food. That is ultimately what gives Cake in the City its identity. It is not only about cheesecake. It is about care, consistency and the kind of homegrown business that earns loyalty one order at a time.
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Aditi Goyal is a Relationship Manager at UAE Stories, based in Dubai, with over a year of experience in connecting people and narratives. She focuses on business, real estate, lifestyle, startups, and human stories, bringing each profile to life with clarity and purpose. Aditi believes every journey has value, and her work reflects a genuine effort to highlight growth, resilience, and real experiences. Through her contributions, she aims to create meaningful content that informs, inspires, and builds strong connections with readers.
