Checkmate

Market position

Checkmate positions itself against existing savings extensions and coupon apps, arguing that they access only a small share of available savings as retailers shift to personalized, individually targeted offers; the company claims average savings of 2x competitors [5][6]. Investors and press cited rapid viral growth and an early No. 1 Apple App Store ranking as evidence of product-market fit [5][6]. Its angel investor base includes executives from Honey, Rakuten, Pinterest, Ancestry.com, Google, Grindr, Amazon, Linktree and Brex [6].

Checkmate frames its differentiator as generating codes rather than only finding them: exclusive codes created with partner brands, combined with automated price checking across a large store network, email code extraction, and adjacent utilities such as package tracking, wishlists and a gift-card wallet [0][1][3][5][6][7].

Technology

Checkmate combines automated code discovery online, extraction of codes from users' email, and exclusive codes negotiated with partner brands, applied automatically at checkout [5][6][7]. The product originally operated as an iPhone app using a Safari mobile browser extension and later expanded to desktop, Chrome, iOS and Android [0][1][6]. The company's help center and login page refer to "savings AI," and its site describes automatically generated, user-specific codes [0][3][4].

Go-to-market

Free consumer distribution via the Apple App Store, Android and a Chrome browser extension, amplified by viral social media content; at the Series A the company reported over 600,000 followers across TikTok and Instagram, and its site displays individual videos with millions of views under the @joincheckmate and @checkmatesavings handles [0][1][5][6]. On the supply side, Checkmate signs exclusive code partnerships with brands [0][1][5].

Online shoppers seeking discounts at checkout, particularly mobile users, plus consumer brands and online retailers that partner with Checkmate on exclusive codes and merchant-facing products [0][1][2][5][6].

Geography

The founders are Australian-born and the company is backed by Australian firm Blackbird Ventures [6][7]; the sources do not specify headquarters or operating markets beyond online distribution through the Apple App Store, Android and Chrome [0][1].

History

Checkmate was started in late 2021 [6]. Blackbird invested in 2022 and states it co-led the company's seed round [7]; TechCrunch notes a $5 million seed raise announced in September 2022 [6]. The app reached No. 1 in the Apple App Store at the end of 2022 [5][6]. In May 2023 the company announced a $15 million Series A led by GV, reporting more than 400,000 users and 60,000 daily active users at roughly eight months of consumer traction, across about 40,000 supported stores [5][6]. The current website reflects a substantially larger stated footprint of 2M+ shoppers and 200,000+ brands, with distribution via Chrome, iOS and Android [0][1].

Risks & controversies

Publicly reported user and coverage figures vary across sources and time: the company's own press release cited 380K users, 55K daily actives and 40,000 stores, while contemporaneous TechCrunch reporting cited 400K users and 60K daily actives [5][6]; the current website cites 2M+ shoppers and 200k+ brands while its login page cites 50M+ shoppers in network and 500k stores, an inconsistency across company-controlled pages [0][1][4]. TechCrunch also noted the unusually short interval between the September 2022 seed round and the May 2023 Series A [6]. The press release references new regulations making it harder for businesses to reach consumers, a factor affecting the sector [5].