Kudos has successfully secured $10.2 million in a Series A funding round led by QED Investors for its AI-driven smart wallet and shopping assistant.
Participating in the funding round were notable backers, including Brian Kelly, founder of The Points Guy, Samsung Next, SV Angel, Precursor Ventures, The Mini Fund, Newtype Ventures, and the Four Cities Fund.
Founded in 2001 by a team with expertise from Google, PayPal, and Affirm, Kudos offers an app and browser extension designed to serve as a smart wallet assistant. It intelligently recommends or automatically selects the best credit card for shoppers, helping them maximize rewards and cash back during purchases.
Recently, Kudos introduced several innovative features, such as MariaGPT, an AI-powered card discovery tool with a database of over 3,000 card options; Dream Wallet, which suggests cards to fill gaps in a user’s wallet based on spending behavior; and Kudos Boost, offering personalized rewards from more than 15,000 partner brands, including Walmart and Sephora.
Since its initial seed funding, Kudos has expanded its member base to over 200,000 registered users and increased its annualized checkout Gross Merchandise Value to $200 million. With the new funding, the company plans to develop an AI-powered hub for spending optimization insights, enhance MariaGPT into a comprehensive personal finance assistant, and create a portal for members to book flights using points.
Tikue Anazodo, CEO of Kudos, commented, "Consumers want to know they’re getting the most for their money as they manage budgets, various credit cards, and often confusing rewards systems. Kudos simplifies all of that with one easy-to-use app and extension."
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