Gift cards, made in Iraq.
Karto is the first marketplace built for Iraqis to buy, send, and redeem gift cards from real local franchises — no friction, no foreign middleman, no waiting.
Why we built this
Iraq has 44 million people, a young digital-first population, and a growing wave of strong local franchises — from Ridha Alwan to Vanilla, Grinders to Abu Afif. But there was no easy way to send a gift card to someone in the country. Foreign platforms didn't serve us. Local payment friction made every workaround painful.
So we built one. From scratch, in Baghdad.
What Karto does
Pick a brand, pick an amount, pay the way that suits you — credit card, ZainCash, Qi Card, or bank transfer.
Just type a phone number. Your friend gets an SMS with a signed claim link they can redeem in seconds.
Show the QR at the counter, the cashier scans, the customer approves. Done.
Built in Baghdad
Karto is a small team based in Iraq, building for Iraq first. We work directly with each merchant we list — no aggregators, no middlemen. Every card you redeem clears with the brand the same week.
What's next
We're in private beta with a handful of brands today. Over the next few quarters we're expanding to 30+ franchises across food, retail, lifestyle, and gaming, plus full iOS and Android apps. If you run a brand and want to be on Karto, or you're a company that wants to gift to your team, talk to us.
Partnerships, press, or just hello.