Surkus

What Surkus does

Surkus is a privately held, for-profit company headquartered in West Hollywood, California, founded in 2015. According to the firmographic profile, the company offers consumers cash back on products in exchange for reviews and content creation, positioning it as a two-sided marketing platform that connects consumer members generating user content with brands seeking authentic engagement and promotional reach. The headcount band of 11-50 employees indicates a small, early-stage operating footprint.

The underlying technology, product surface, pricing, and customer-facing details present in the input data are not internally consistent with the firmographic description of Surkus and instead describe an unrelated Vietnam-focused online gambling and betting platform operating under the XOCDIA88 brand. Per source-precedence rules, this analysis relies on the firmographic facts for Surkus, and the conflicting product and technology data is not attributed to Surkus here. As a result, the actual product architecture, monetization mechanics, and customer segments of Surkus beyond the cash-back-for-content premise cannot be characterized from the input.

On the financing side, Surkus completed an early founding round in 2015, a broader investor round in 2017 led by Global Trust Fund with participation from CUI Global, Everbright Financial Holding Asset Management, Head & Shoulders Financial Group, Nan Fung Group, NetEase, and Opus Capital, and a $10,000,000 round in May 2018 led by Capital Union Investments and EOS Global. In February 2018 the company also acquired Craze Promotions for an undisclosed consideration. No operating revenue, ARR, or post-2018 activity is disclosed in the input, leaving the company's current scale, growth direction, and product trajectory materially under-documented.

Name

Surkus

Legal name

XOCDIA88

Website

https://surkus.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Influencer and Brand Engagement Software

NAICS

Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services (5418)

SIC

Services-Advertising (7310)

akta.pro primary industry

Affiliate & Performance Creator Programs (BPAFAHAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Social Commerce & Creator Storefronts (Shoppable Links) (MPACAGAI), Loyalty, Rewards & Retention Platforms (BPAFAFAH)

Keywords

• Brand engagement platform
• User-generated content
• Influencer marketing software
• Consumer reviews platform
• Cash-back marketing

Headquarters

HQ city

West Hollywood

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Operations

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Surkus operates a brand engagement platform that pays consumers cash back on product purchases in exchange for writing reviews and creating user-generated content. Brands use the platform to source authentic consumer reviews and content at scale while consumers receive monetary incentives for participation.

Product overview

XOCDIA88 is an online gambling and betting platform offering a multi-category gaming ecosystem. The platform provides sports betting, fish shooting games, card games, live casino, slot machines, lottery, and esports betting as core products. All gaming categories are accessible through a unified web platform with mobile app support for iOS and Android devices.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Surkus Brand Engagement Platform Core platform that pays consumers cash back on products in exchange for reviews and content creation, enabling brands to source authentic user-generated content and consumer insights at scale.
• Craze Promotions (Acquired 2018) Promotional marketing capabilities integrated into Surkus following its February 2018 acquisition, supporting brand promotion and experiential marketing offerings.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• CreatorIQ: CreatorIQ is an enterprise creator marketing platform for brand/agency customers, covering discovery, workflow, and measurement — a directly comparable peer competing for the same brand budgets as Surkus.
• Grin: Grin is a creator marketing platform used by brands to manage influencer relationships, gifting, and content-driven commerce — a directly comparable peer to Surkus in the same SMB/enterprise brand customer base.
• BrandBacker: BrandBacker connects brands with bloggers and social media influencers for sponsored content and reviews — a directly comparable peer operating in the same content-for-compensation category as Surkus.
• IZEA: IZEA operates a creator/influencer marketing platform connecting brands with content creators for sponsored content and reviews — a directly comparable business model to Surkus's cash-back-for-content proposition.
• Fohr: Fohr is an influencer marketing platform offering brand-creator matchmaking and content campaigns — a directly comparable peer targeting similar brand customers as Surkus.
• TapInfluence: TapInfluence is a self-serve influencer marketing platform for brands to launch content campaigns with creators — a directly comparable SaaS+marketplace peer to Surkus.
• Aspire (formerly AspireIQ): Aspire is an end-to-end creator marketing platform enabling brands to discover, collaborate with, and pay influencers for content — a close functional peer to Surkus's content-for-rewards marketplace.
• LTK (formerly rewardStyle): LTK is a leading creator commerce platform powering affiliate links and shoppable content from influencers to consumers — directly comparable to Surkus on the affiliate/creator marketing dimension.
• Heartbeat: Heartbeat is an influencer marketing and creator commerce platform that connects brands with social media creators, particularly for health and wellness — a directly comparable peer in the same creator economy category as Surkus.

Broad incumbents

• Yotpo: Yotpo is a broader commerce marketing platform spanning reviews, loyalty, SMS, and referrals — adjacent to Surkus on the cash-back/loyalty and review-generation dimensions, with a much larger enterprise footprint.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors9 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Surkus