Kudos, the innovative startup behind an AI-powered smart wallet and shopping assistant, has successfully raised $10.2 million in a Series A funding round led by QED Investors. Joining the round were 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.
Founded in 2001 by a team of veterans from Google, PayPal, and Affirm, Kudos offers an app and browser extension that acts as a smart wallet assistant. It recommends or automatically selects the best credit card for shoppers to maximize their rewards and cashback.
Kudos recently rolled out several groundbreaking features, solidifying its place at the forefront of financial technology. Among these are MariaGPT, an AI-driven card discovery tool boasting a database of over 3000 cards; Dream Wallet, which suggests optimal cards based on users’ spending habits; and Kudos Boost, offering personalized rewards across more than 15,000 partner brands, including retail giants Walmart and Sephora.
Since its initial seed funding, Kudos has seen impressive growth, amassing over 200,000 registered users and boosting its annualized checkout Gross Merchandise Value to $200 million.
With this new infusion of capital, Kudos plans to further revolutionize personal finance. The company aims to launch an AI-powered hub to provide spend optimization insights, expand MariaGPT into a general-purpose personal finance assistant, and develop a portal for booking flights with points.
Tikue Anazodo, CEO of Kudos, highlights the company’s mission: “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.”
