From clipping coupons from the newspaper to searching for a coupon code online, consumers are looking for benefits and perks when they shop.
Glory is one of those companies that help us do that. It has created an AI-powered smart wallet that recommends the right credit card to maximize rewards and cashback when making purchases.
Kudos uses artificial intelligence to understand consumer spending habits to then provide more personalized financial advice, such as maximizing rewards and using credit effectively, Tikue Anazodo, Kudos co-founder and CEO, told TechCrunch.
Consumers can use Kudos through an app and browser extension, similar to Honey. There are startups like Kard, Power, Bilt Rewards and MaxRewards growing in this space as well.
“Many of our members say that using Kudos is like having Apple Pay, Honey and Credit Karma all in one app,” Anazodo said via email. “However, we automatically optimize payments, find personalized merchant offers and provide smart financial recommendations, all with advanced artificial intelligence.”
Anazodo started Kudos with Ahmad Ismail after working together at Google and Affirm. They later exhibited as part of Battlefield 200 at TC Disrupt in 2022.
TechCrunch profiled the company in 2022 when it raised $7 million in seed funding from investors including Patron, QED Investors, SciFi VC and SV Angel. At the time, Kudos was in beta with 36% month-over-month user growth and 90% retention.
As of 2022, Kudos has grown from 1,000 beta testers to 200,000 registered users and increased the funds’ annual gross merchandise volume to over $200 million, Anazodo said.
It also has some new features like MariaGPT, an AI-powered card finder, which indexes and recommends more than 3,000 cards in its database. Dream Wallet, which provides personalized card recommendations based on a user’s spending habits. and Kudos Boost, which provides personalized cash back rewards on top of existing credit card rewards at more than 15,000 partner brands and retailers.
Anazodo declined to elaborate on revenue growth other than to say “we’re still in the early stages of monetization.”
All this growth led investors to put additional capital into the company. QED Investors returns to lead $10.2 million in Series A for Kudos. Patron, The Points Guy founder Brian Kelly, Samsung Next, SV Angel, Precursor Ventures, The Mini Fund, Newtype Ventures and Four Cities Fund are participating. This new investment gives Kudos $17.2 million in total venture-backed funding raised to date.
Anazodo declined to give specific valuation numbers, but said the new valuation is more than double its original valuation.
The company intends to maintain a lean team. There are 14 employees today versus 11 in 2022. It will develop funding in new AI-powered services for its smart wallet product and expand MariaGPT into a general purpose personal finance assistant and a portal to allow members to book flights with points , so that consumers do not I should not leave the congratulations, said Anazodo.
As part of the investment, Amias Gerety, partner at QED Investors, joins Kudos’ board of directors.
“We chose QED investors to lead the round because of their deep expertise in fintech and their strong belief in our vision for Kudos,” said Anazodo. “Their strategic insights, extensive network and proven track record of scaling successful fintech companies, such as the top-tier Credit Karma Series A, made them the ideal partner to help us navigate this next phase of growth.”
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