HungryFriend

What HungryFriend does

HungryFriend is presented in the firmographic record as a privately held, for-profit company based in Carlsbad, California, founded in 2022 with 1–10 employees. The aggregated dataset on the company is internally inconsistent at the label layer — the firmographic short description calls it a "Restaurant Loyalty and Consumer Fundraising App," while the bulk of the substantive product data describes a consumer-facing browser extension that combines discount-coupon discovery with charitable donation routing. The most defensible reading of the available evidence is that the company operates a free-to-consumer Chrome browser extension that automatically identifies discount coupons at more than 15,000 partner retail stores at checkout and, when a user activates a coupon, routes a portion of the associated sale to a user-selected nonprofit (one of more than 1 million listed charities). The product is distributed through the Chrome Web Store with a "Download Now" call-to-action; installation takes under 60 seconds, no credit card is required, and a $5 instant donation is made to the user's selected charity on signup.

The business model is an affiliate/referral arrangement: retailers fund the donation flow (and, implicitly, Give Freely's revenue) by sharing a portion of qualifying transaction value when a coupon is activated and a purchase is completed. There is no disclosed consumer-side pricing, and revenue is not disclosed in the source material; the company appears to operate as a freemium consumer product with retailer-funded monetization. Distribution relies on the Chrome Web Store marketplace plus an Ambassador program and nonprofit partner referrals (with launch partners including UNICEF, Susan G. Komen, charity: water, the Michael J. Fox Foundation, March of Dimes, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Autism Speaks, and others). The leadership team disclosed is led by Steve Kaufer, co-founder and former CEO of TripAdvisor, whose brand equity is positioned as a key differentiator. A separate Careers page and a sister site ("Grinning Labs") for additional browser extensions suggest nascent portfolio activity beyond the core product.

No venture or growth funding, ARR, headcount change data, mobile app, or AI/ML capability is disclosed. The integrated evidence base is sufficient to characterize the product, go-to-market, and revenue mechanics but is too thin to support quantitative claims about scale, growth, or unit economics.

Name

HungryFriend

Legal name

Give Freely

Website

https://hungryfriend.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

HungryFriend operates a free consumer browser extension that automatically finds discount coupons at 15,000+ partner retailers and routes a portion of each purchase to the user's selected nonprofit, serving online shoppers and a marketplace of 1M+ charities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Browser-based coupon and charitable giving extension

akta.pro primary industry

Price Comparison, Deals, Cashback & Loyalty Shopping Platforms (BPAMAGAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Couponing, Rebates & Cash-Back Promotions (BPAFAMAI)

Keywords

• Coupon browser extension
• Charitable giving platform
• Affiliate donation software
• Online shopping savings
• Nonprofit fundraising app

Headquarters

HQ city

Carlsbad

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Affiliate Commission from Retailers: When users activate coupons and make purchases at partner stores, those stores donate a portion of the sale to the user's selected charity. Give Freely acts as an intermediary, earning revenue through these retailer donation arrangements. The company mentions stores donate to charities with every purchase, implying a revenue share or affiliate model.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

The company offers a free Chrome browser extension that automatically finds and applies discount coupons at over 15,000 online retail stores; when a user activates a coupon, the retailer donates a portion of the purchase to the user's selected nonprofit charity. The service requires no credit card, no trial offers, and includes a $5 instant donation on signup, distributing revenue through affiliate commissions paid by participating retailers.

Product overview

Give Freely is a single, unified browser extension product — a Chrome extension that combines coupon discovery with charitable giving. Users install the extension, create an account, select a nonprofit charity, and the platform automatically finds and presents available coupons at partner stores. When a user activates a coupon to save money on a purchase, the store donates to the user's chosen charity. The core offering is a browser extension only (no mobile app, no separate product tiers), and it is entirely free for users — there is no credit card required and no trial offers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Give Freely Browser Extension (Chrome) A free Chrome browser extension that automatically finds and applies discount coupons at over 15,000 online stores; when users activate coupons, partner retailers donate a portion of qualifying purchases to the user's selected nonprofit charity. It is aimed at individual online shoppers and includes a $5 instant donation on signup with no credit card required.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 15,000 partner stores for coupon discovery
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• 15,000+ Retail StorescoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorOver 15,000 retail stores partner with Give Freely to offer coupons to users. When users activate coupons and make purchases, stores donate a portion of the sale to the user's selected charity. This forms the core commercial relationship enabling the platform's value proposition.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Slickdeals: Community-driven deals and coupons platform where users share and vote on the best discounts. Comparable monetization through affiliate links and overlapping audience of deal-seeking online shoppers.
• Capital One Shopping: Browser extension and web platform that finds coupons, compares prices, and rewards users. Backed by Capital One, it is one of the largest US shopping-assistant tools and competes head-to-head on coupon functionality.
• Swagbucks: Rewards and cashback platform where users earn points (Swagbucks) for shopping, surveys, and activities, redeemable for gift cards or cash. Comparable business model and same value-conscious online shopper segment.
• Rakuten: Cashback and coupon platform offering browser extension plus in-store and online cashback rewards at thousands of retailers. Operates on a similar affiliate-commission model and competes for the same value-conscious online shopper segment.
• Coupons.com: Digital coupon platform (owned by Quotient Technology / Neptune Retail Solutions) offering printable, digital, and browser-based coupons at major retailers. Operates the same retailer-affiliate economics as Give Freely.
• RetailMeNot: Long-standing digital coupon and cashback platform with a large retailer network and a browser extension. Targets the same online shopper audience and earns revenue through affiliate commissions from the same retailer base.
• PayPal Honey: PayPal-owned browser extension that automatically finds and applies coupon codes at checkout across thousands of retailers. Directly competes with Give Freely on the core coupon-discovery mechanic; Honey does not, however, route savings to charities.

Others

• DonorsChoose: Nonprofit crowdfunding platform for teachers and classrooms. Not a direct competitor, but a comparable 'everyday action creates charitable impact' nonprofit-facing platform that demonstrates the demand for transactional giving models.

Emerging players

• GoodRx: Consumer savings platform focused on healthcare that combines coupon/discount functionality with a charitable mission angle and direct consumer app distribution. Thematically adjacent in 'everyday savings with purpose' positioning.
• AmazonSmile: Amazon's charitable-giving program that donates a portion of eligible purchases to a shopper-selected nonprofit. Direct conceptual comparison for the donation-at-checkout mechanic, though scoped only to Amazon purchases.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/hungryfriendapp

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about HungryFriend