Kudos, a pioneering AI-powered smart wallet and shopping assistant, has successfully raised $10.2 million in a Series A funding round led by QED Investors. This round saw participation from notable investors including Patron, The Points Guy founder Brian Kelly, Samsung Next, SV Angel, Precursor Ventures, The Mini Fund, Newtype Ventures, and the Four Cities Fund.
Established in 2001 by a team with backgrounds at Google, PayPal, and Affirm, Kudos has developed an innovative app and browser extension designed to optimize credit card usage for shoppers, maximizing their rewards and cash back. The platform acts as a smart wallet assistant, recommending or automatically selecting the best credit card for each transaction.
Recently, Kudos introduced several cutting-edge features. MariaGPT, an AI-powered card discovery tool, boasts a database of over 3,000 cards. Dream Wallet suggests cards to fill gaps in a user’s wallet based on their spending habits, and Kudos Boost offers personalized rewards across more than 15,000 partner brands, including major retailers like Walmart and Sephora.
Since its seed funding round, Kudos has expanded its member base to over 200,000 registered users and achieved an annualized checkout Gross Merchandise Value of $200 million. With the new funding, the company plans to launch an AI-powered hub providing spending optimization insights, expand MariaGPT into a general-purpose personal finance assistant, and create a portal for members to book flights with points.
Tikue Anazodo, CEO of Kudos, remarked, “Consumers want to know they’re getting the most for their money as they juggle budgets, multiple credit cards, and rewards systems that can be confusing. Kudos simplifies all of that with one easy-to-use app and extension.”
This substantial investment will enable Kudos to further enhance its offerings and cement its position as a leader in the smart wallet and personal finance space.