Boston-based Catena Labs announced plans to establish what it describes as the first fully regulated financial institution designed specifically for the needs of the emerging AI economy.
As an initial step towards this goal, the company has released an open-source project that outlines protocols and frameworks for what it terms “agentic commerce”.
Catena Labs also confirmed it has secured US$18 million in funding, led by a16z crypto, with support from Breyer Capital, Circle Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, CoinFund, Pillar VC, Stanford Engineering Venture Fund, and a group of individual investors including Tom Brady, Bradley Horowitz, Hamel Husain, Kevin Lin, Peter Mattoon, Sam Palmisano, and Balaji Srinivasan.
The company was co-founded by Sean Neville, who previously co-founded Circle Internet Group and was involved in the development of the USDC stablecoin.
Catena aims to address what it sees as limitations in traditional financial systems, particularly in handling identity and trust for AI agents, the speed and cost of existing payment systems, and the lack of infrastructure designed for AI-driven commerce.
“AI agents will soon conduct most economic transactions, but today’s financial systems are unprepared and resistant to interactions with automated intelligence,”
said Neville, who is also the company’s Chief Executive.
“That’s why we’re building an AI-native financial institution that will give AI agents, and the businesses and consumers they serve, the ability to transact safely and efficiently.”
According to the company, the newly raised capital will be used to accelerate the development of its financial platform and supporting technology.
Chris Dixon, Founder and Managing Partner at a16z crypto, said,
“The rise of AI agents is reshaping what’s possible in online commerce, making it clear that we need a financial layer built specifically for how these systems operate, one that can handle authentication, payments, and trust at scale. Sean and the Catena team have the expertise to meet that challenge.”
As part of its broader efforts, Catena has introduced the Agent Commerce Kit (ACK), an open-source set of tools that outlines the foundational components needed for AI agents to operate in economic systems.
The company says it is building on ACK and other evolving standards to offer a suite of licensed financial services that address issues of risk, security, and regulatory compliance in the context of AI systems acting independently in economic environments.
Featured image credit: Edited by Fintech News America, based on image by TravelScape via Freepik
