News
Carasti Expands To Saudi Arabia After Raising $2 Million
To celebrate its recent expansion, Carasti is launching with a Ramadan offer of 50% off the first-month subscription for new Saudi subscribers.
From March 23, 2022, on-demand car subscription service Carasti is available in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The expansion of the UAE-based company into the Kingdom comes after a successful bridge round that helped Carasti raise $2 million from venture firms Net Ventures and Rua Growth.
The bridge round will soon be followed by Carasti’s Series A funding round, which should help it further drive growth and establish itself as a dominant player in the car rental and leasing market in Saudi Arabia, which is expected to reach $2.5 billion by 2026, according to a report by Mordor Intelligence.
“After a successful 2.5 years of rapid growth in the UAE, we are now making it possible for Saudi drivers to get a car without any of the hassles of ownership; our full-subscription model looks set to become the go-to brand for the Kingdom’s automotive needs starting today and into the future” said Claudio Esposito-Aiardo, CEO of Carasti.
Carasti offers a growing selection of new and nearly-new cars, and its subscription process takes less than three minutes to complete. Customers can choose from all-inclusive subscriptions ranging from 1 to 24 months, with prices starting at just SAR 1,799 ($479 USD) per month. The few required documents can be conveniently uploaded using the Carasti app, available to download on both the App Store and Google Play Store.
Also Read: 4 Smartphones Coming To The Middle East This Spring
To celebrate its recent expansion, Carasti is launching with a Ramadan offer of 50 percent off the first-month subscription for new Saudi subscribers. To take advantage of the offer, simply enter the code “WOW50” when signing up. After completing the quick and easy sign-up process, the selected vehicle can be ready in as little as 4 hours.
All subscriptions include not only the car itself but also all other expenses typically associated with car ownership, such as insurance, warranty, maintenance, and around-the-clock roadside assistance and delivery.
News
Nano Banana 2 Arrives In MENA For Google Gemini Users
Google brings its latest image model to Gemini and Search, adding 4K output and tighter text control for regional users.
Google has opened access to Nano Banana 2 across the Middle East and North Africa, pushing its newest image model into everyday tools rather than keeping it inside the exclusive (and expensive) Pro tier.
The rollout spans the Google Gemini desktop and mobile apps, and extends to Google Search through Lens and AI Mode. Developers can also test it in preview via AI Studio and the Gemini API.
Nano Banana 2 runs on Gemini Flash, Google’s fast inference layer. The focus is speed, but also control. Users can export visuals from 512px up to 4K, adjusting aspect ratios for everything from vertical social posts to widescreen displays.
The model maintains character likeness across up to five figures and preserves fidelity for as many as 14 objects within a single workflow. This enables visual continuity across scenes, iterations, or edits — supporting projects like short films, storyboards, and multi-scene narratives. Text rendering has also been improved, delivering legible typography in mockups and greeting cards, with built-in translation and localization directly within images.
Also Read: RØDE Adds Direct iPhone Pairing To Wireless GO And Pro Mics
Under the hood, the system taps Gemini’s broader knowledge base and pulls in real-time information and imagery from web search to render specific subjects more accurately. Lighting and fine detail have been upgraded, without slowing output.
By embedding the model inside Gemini and Search, Google is normalizing advanced image generation for a mass audience. In MENA, where startups and marketing teams are leaning heavily on AI to scale content across languages and borders, that shift lands at a practical moment.
The move also folds creative tooling deeper into search itself, so that image generation is no longer a separate workflow. It now sits right next to the query box.
