Kite Secures $18 Million in Series A Funding to Build Foundational Trust Infrastructure for the Agentic Web
In a significant development for the burgeoning field of artificial intelligence and decentralized systems, Kite, a company dedicated to building the foundational trust infrastructure for the agentic web, has announced the successful closure of an $18 million Series A funding round. This substantial investment was co-led by prominent venture capital firms PayPal Ventures and General Catalyst, bringing Kite's total cumulative funding to an impressive $33 million. The infusion of capital is earmarked to accelerate the development of solutions that will empower autonomous AI agents to authenticate, transact, and operate with independence in real-world environments.
The Emergence of the Agentic Web and Kite's Role
The concept of the "agentic web" envisions a future where autonomous AI agents play a pivotal role in digital economies, acting as sophisticated intermediaries and participants in transactions. Kite is positioning itself at the forefront of this transformation by creating the essential trust layer required for these agents to function securely and efficiently. Previously operating under the name Zettablock, Kite has drawn upon its team's extensive experience in developing large-scale, real-time data infrastructures for decentralized networks. This includes prior work with prominent blockchain ecosystems such as Sui, Polygon, Chainlink, and EigenLayer. This deep-seated expertise in distributed systems forms the bedrock upon which Kite is building its new architecture, specifically tailored to serve the unique needs of AI agents.
Introducing Kite Agent Identity Resolution (Kite AIR)
Central to Kite's strategy is its recently launched flagship platform, Kite Agent Identity Resolution, or "Kite AIR." This pioneering solution is engineered to provide autonomous agents with the capabilities they need to navigate and participate in the digital economy. Kite AIR enables agents to authenticate themselves, conduct transactions, and operate autonomously, bridging the gap between artificial intelligence and real-world applications. The platform is built upon two fundamental components:
- Agent Passport: This component provides a verifiable digital identity for each agent, complete with integrated operational guardrails. It ensures that agents can be uniquely identified and that their actions are governed by predefined policies, fostering a secure and accountable environment.
- Agent App Store: This serves as a dynamic marketplace where AI agents can discover, access, and procure essential services. These services include APIs, valuable data sets, and sophisticated commerce tools, enabling agents to leverage external resources to perform their tasks more effectively.
Addressing the Challenges of Agentic Transactions
The rise of agentic AI presents unique challenges compared to traditional AI systems. Agentic AI is inherently probabilistic, non-linear, and unpredictable, which can introduce complexities in governance and oversight. Furthermore, the sheer scale and speed at which swarms of agents might conduct micro-transactions necessitate a robust and efficient transactional framework. Current human-centric systems are often too rigid and lack the speed and scalability required for this new paradigm.
Kite AIR directly addresses these limitations. By providing programmable identity, native stablecoin payments, and policy enforcement on a blockchain optimized for autonomous agents, Kite is creating a system that can handle machine-speed transactions with low latency and high security. The platform facilitates new economic models, such as agent-to-agent metered billing, micro-subscriptions, and high-frequency trading, which were previously difficult or impossible to implement.
Strategic Partnerships and Future Outlook
The integration of Kite AIR with popular commerce platforms like Shopify and PayPal is a critical step in its adoption strategy. Merchants can opt in to become discoverable through the Kite Agent App Store, allowing AI shopping agents to find and purchase products on behalf of users. These transactions are settled on-chain, offering full traceability and utilizing programmable permissions and stablecoins for secure and efficient settlement. This move signals a tangible step towards a future where AI agents can seamlessly interact with established e-commerce ecosystems.
Industry leaders recognize the significance of Kite's work. Marc Bhargava, Managing Director at General Catalyst, commented that Kite is "building the rails for the machine-to-machine economy." Alan Du, Partner at PayPal Ventures, highlighted Kite's role in bridging the "challenging technical gap" in agent-to-agent payments, noting that their stablecoin-based, millisecond-level settlement with low transaction fees and no chargeback risks is a critical innovation. Steve Everett, Head of Global Market Development at PayPal Crypto and Digital Assets, further emphasized the potential for a "truly global, automated economy where people, enterprise and machine can interact with ease and trust" through Kite's foundational trust infrastructure.
A Team Built for the Future
Kite's founding team brings a formidable combination of expertise across the three core pillars essential for powering the agent economy: blockchain protocol engineering, large-scale data infrastructure, and applied AI. CEO Chi Zhang holds a Ph.D. in AI from UC Berkeley and previously led core data products at Databricks. CTO Scott Shi has a background in building real-time AI infrastructure at Uber and was a founding engineer for Salesforce Einstein AI. The team's collective experience is further bolstered by over 30 patents and publications in top AI conferences. With engineers and researchers from companies like Uber, Databricks, Salesforce, and NEAR, and academic roots at institutions including UC Berkeley, MIT, Harvard, Oxford, and the University of Tokyo, Kite is exceptionally well-positioned to lead the development of the agentic internet.
As the digital landscape evolves, the need for secure, reliable, and efficient infrastructure for autonomous AI agents becomes increasingly critical. Kite's recent funding success and its innovative Kite AIR platform underscore its commitment to building this essential foundation, paving the way for a future where machines can interact and transact with unprecedented autonomy and trust.
AI Summary
Kite, formerly known as Zettablock, has announced a significant $18 million Series A funding round, co-led by PayPal Ventures and General Catalyst, bringing its total funding to $33 million. The company is focused on building the essential trust infrastructure for the emerging "agentic web," a paradigm where autonomous AI agents will increasingly interact and transact. Kite leverages its team's extensive experience in large-scale, real-time data infrastructures for decentralized networks like Sui, Polygon, Chainlink, and EigenLayer to create a new architecture purpose-built for these agents. The core of Kite's offering is Kite Agent Identity Resolution (Kite AIR), a pioneering solution designed to empower autonomous agents with the ability to authenticate, transact, and operate independently in real-world scenarios. Kite AIR comprises two key components: Agent Passport, which provides a verifiable digital identity with built-in operational guardrails, and Agent App Store, a marketplace where agents can discover, access, and pay for essential services such as APIs, data, and commerce tools. This innovative system is already live, with open integrations available for popular commerce platforms like Shopify and PayPal, allowing merchants to become discoverable to AI shopping agents. Purchases made through this ecosystem are settled on-chain with full traceability, utilizing stablecoins and programmable permissions. Kite's vision is to enable a new era of machine-to-machine economies, addressing the limitations of current human-centric systems that are ill-suited for the high-speed, micro-transactional nature of agentic interactions. The company's founding team possesses deep expertise in blockchain protocol engineering, large-scale data infrastructure, and applied AI, with members hailing from prominent organizations such as Uber, Databricks, and Salesforce, and academic backgrounds from leading institutions like UC Berkeley and MIT. This strong foundation positions Kite to be a critical enabler of the future agentic internet, facilitating trust, security, and seamless transactions in an increasingly automated digital landscape.