Investing in Catena Labs
We’re at the beginning of a new era in computing. AI agents are becoming more than just tools that analyze data or generate content — they’re turning into autonomous software actors. These agents can log into services, move money, hire experts, and negotiate contracts. But there’s a problem: our current financial infrastructure wasn’t built for them.
Traditional payment rails assume a human is on one end of every transaction. That means delays like 3-day ACH transfers, and high fees — up to 3% — on credit card payments. Systems also flag automated activity as fraud, forcing manual reviews. This slows down innovation and limits what AI agents can actually do.
Catena Labs hopes to fix this. We’re leading their seed round because they’re building what the system needs. Led by Circle cofounder Sean Neville, who helped to take the stablecoin USDC from concept to one of the world’s most widely used digital dollars, Catena is creating a new financial stack from scratch — one designed specifically for AI. Their protocol will let trusted software agents send stablecoins across the globe with near-instant finality and ultra-low fees. It combines crypto’s speed and global reach with built-in identity and compliance that enterprises demand.
Sean has deep experience scaling regulated, production-grade financial systems. He’s joined by a world-class team from Meta, Google, Jump Crypto, and Protocol Labs — builders who know how to ship at scale.
The core idea is simple but powerful: software agents should be able to pay and get paid, instantly and safely. Catena’s regulated, AI-native rails make that possible. We think this unlocks an entire class of applications that weren’t feasible before — things like real-time payments for AI-generated content, or agents autonomously sourcing data and services on-demand.
Machine-speed systems need machine-speed money. Catena is building the missing link, and we’re excited to back them.
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