Kite AI raised $18 million in a Series A led by PayPal Ventures, bringing total funding to $33 million to build decentralized AI infrastructure and an agent-native layer-1 blockchain to enable identity, stablecoin payments and programmable trust for autonomous Web3 AI agents.
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Kite AI closed an $18M Series A led by PayPal Ventures
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Kite’s AIR system provides Agent Passports, programmable stablecoin payments and an Agent App Store for autonomous agents.
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Testnet runs on an Avalanche-based, AI-centric layer-1 chain; total funding now $33M.
Meta description: Kite AI Series A funding: $18M led by PayPal Ventures to build decentralized AI infrastructure for agent identity, payments and onchain trust—read next steps.
Kite AI raised $18 million in a Series A round led by PayPal Ventures, bringing its total funding to $33 million to build decentralized infrastructure for AI agents in Web3.
Decentralized AI infrastructure provider Kite AI raised $18 million in its Series A funding round led by PayPal Ventures, bringing cumulative funding to $33 million.
What is the Kite AI Series A funding and why does it matter?
Kite AI Series A funding secured $18 million to accelerate development of agentic Web3 infrastructure. The round, led by PayPal Ventures, backs Kite’s AIR system and an Avalanche-based layer‑1 testnet designed to provide identity, programmable payments and verifiable actions for autonomous AI agents.
Who invested and what has Kite built so far?
Investors named by the company include 8VC, Samsung Next, SBI US Gateway Fund, Vertex Ventures, Hashed, HashKey Capital, Avalanche Foundation, LayerZero, Animoca Brands and others. In February, Kite launched a testnet for an AI-centric layer‑1 blockchain based on Avalanche (AVAX) focused on scalable data processing and centralized coordination for AI workflows.
How does Kite’s AIR system enable AI agents to transact?
AIR lets agents authenticate and transact independently with programmable identities, native stablecoin payments and policy enforcement on a dedicated blockchain. It has two core components:
- Agent Passport: cryptographic identity services and operational guardrails that form a chain of trust.
- Agent App Store: discovery, services, data sources and commerce tools that agents can pay for using native settlement.
A Kite representative explained Passport “creates a multi-layered identity system where each participant—users, agents, and sessions—has distinct cryptographic identities that form a chain of trust.” This enables cryptographic traceability of agent actions back to their origin.
How will AI agents change Web3 interactions?
Kite co‑founder and CEO Chi Zhang said autonomous agents will become the dominant user interface for digital economies, requiring structured, verifiable data plus identity, trust and programmable payments tailored for machine‑scale interactions.
Zhang emphasized that “today’s human‑centric systems are too rigid and brittle for swarms of agents conducting micro‑transactions at machine speed.” He added that merchants using publicly available APIs can opt into Kite’s Agent App Store to become discoverable by shopping agents, with purchases settled onchain using stablecoins.
A Kite representative confirmed PayPal is in a formal pilot partnership and Shopify is an API integration in pilot phase. Alan Du, partner at PayPal Ventures, called Kite “the first real infrastructure that is purpose‑built for the agentic economy,” noting the platform bridges payments gaps with stablecoin-based, millisecond-level settlement. Steve Everett, head of global market development at PayPal’s crypto and digital assets department, said these systems support “a truly global, automated economy where people, enterprise and machine can interact with ease and trust.”
When are integrations and pilots expected to expand?
Kite is actively piloting integrations across commerce, finance and data platforms. The company reports early pilots with PayPal and API integrations with commerce platforms; broader rollouts will follow ongoing pilot results and additional partner onboarding.
Why do developers and projects care about agent-native infrastructure?
AI agents interact with systems differently from humans, requiring purpose-built middleware and intent-based blockchain infrastructure. Adrian Brink, co‑founder of Anoma, has argued for intent-based infrastructure where high-level goals are interpreted and executed automatically by agent systems and the chain.
Practical traction is emerging: data from earlier this month shows an AI-driven DApp called Clanker generated over $34.4 million in fees for users by automating token launches and market creation—an example of agent-scale activity onchain.
Frequently Asked Questions
How will Kite’s Agent Passport improve trust in agent transactions?
Agent Passport issues distinct cryptographic identities for users, agents and sessions, forming a chain of trust that allows actions to be cryptographically traced to their origin and enforces operational guardrails.
Can agents make purchases on behalf of users?
Yes. With the Agent App Store and native stablecoin settlement, agents can discover merchant services, execute purchases and settle onchain under programmable policies defined by Passport and marketplace rules.
Key Takeaways
- Funding milestone: Series A led by PayPal Ventures raised $18M, total $33M.
- Agent-native stack: AIR provides identity, programmable payments and an app marketplace for agents.
- Pilot momentum: PayPal pilot active; Shopify integration in pilot phase; testnet on an Avalanche-based chain.
How to start integrating agent capabilities with Kite (high-level steps)
- Register developer access to Kite’s Agent App Store APIs and Agent Passport services.
- Define agent intents and payment policies, and configure Agent Passport guardrails for sessions.
- Test agent transactions on Kite’s Avalanche-based testnet and iterate before production rollout.
Conclusion
Kite AI’s $18 million Series A led by PayPal Ventures marks a notable investment into decentralized, agent-native infrastructure that combines identity, programmable stablecoin payments and onchain traceability. As pilots with major commerce and payments platforms expand, Kite aims to enable a new class of autonomous AI agents to transact and interact across Web3 in a verifiable, scalable way.
Published: 2025-09-02 | Updated: 2025-09-02 | Author: COINOTAG
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