Why We Invested in Kudos
October was an exciting month for Kudos, the self-driving consumer smart wallet that maximizes consumer rewards and benefits while shopping online. The team closed a $7 million seed funding round and launched its MVP, a mobile and desktop extension. Chingona was excited to participate in the seed round alongside other investors including QED Investors, SciFi VC, SV Angel, Precursor Ventures, and Newtype Ventures. The round will help Kudos fulfill its mission to build the smartest and most assistive consumer wallet during a period of growing consumer wallet adoption. Congratulations to Tikue Anazodo, Ahmad Ismail, and the Kudos team!
Co-founders, Tikue and Ahmad are building a smart wallet that automatically steers consumers to the financial instrument that maximizes their financial outcomes at the point of sale. This includes rewards, offer maximization, and interest reduction. We are confident in the expertise Tikue and Ahmad bring to the space as prior coworkers and friends at Google and Affirm.
The confusion and lack of knowledge around credit card maximization is a viable consumer concern. With an average of three credit cards each, Americans use their cards to provide a cushion for emergencies, cash-free convenience, and great rewards. However, while they recognize the value of their credit cards, most still feel their relationship with them is less than ideal (Survey Findings: How Do Consumers Feel About Credit Cards? — Experian)
The average consumer leaves $845 on the table with credit cards. This is largely due to the fact that credit card shopping is a chore and most consumers don’t know which cards are best for their needs. Finding new credit cards to match their needs requires reading blogs e.g. NerdWallet. Users make credit card decisions in seconds, but it requires much more time and effort to keep track of rewards and offers. In addition, complicated rules and reward structures make it difficult for customers to maximize their offerings. This is where Kudos brings value!
Chingona invested in Kudos because we were drawn to their value proposition — helping people to maximize financial outcomes by optimizing rewards. They are clear on understanding their consumers’ pain points — folks who have multiple credit cards and don’t know how to maximize their rewards. Some features that Kudos’ users love include, getting recommendations on the best card to use when checking out (auto-filled for the user), being able to see how many miles/points they earn on each purchase, being able to shop across 1MM websites across 3000 different cards, and being able to utilize benefits most users don’t even know they have, such as “Extended Warranty”, “Purchase Protection”, “Travel Delay Insurance”, and more!
The team has also shown amazing traction since its beta launch, supporting checkout at over one million websites. As well, they’ve experienced strong organic growth with downloads increasing an average of 36% month over month and $4.5 million in annualized checkout GMV.
Kudos sits at the intersection of Chingona’s thesis — fintech, early-stage, pre-product, and pre-revenue. We pride ourselves on our ability to identify founders who have a unique wedge on the market, have great market fit, and understand their consumers — Kudos satisfies all of our core criteria. Furthermore, we have a strong portfolio of fintech investments and are participating in the round with other great fintech investors.
We are ecstatic about Kudos’ next steps and look forward to working with them as they build out the next phase of the product! Congratulations to the team; we can’t wait for your vision to unfold! Don’t forget to download the Kudos browser extension so you can start maximizing your rewards!
