Kite, a company developing infrastructure for autonomous agents on the web, has raised US$18 million in a series A round led by PayPal Ventures and General Catalyst.

This brings Kite’s total funding to US$33 million, with additional investors including 8VC, Samsung Next, Alumni Ventures, and others.

Co-founded by Chi Zhang and Scott Shi, the team has experience in blockchain protocols, large-scale data systems, and AI.

Kite recently launched its Agent Identity Resolution (Kite AIR) system, which enables autonomous agents to authenticate and transact using stablecoins on a blockchain.

The platform integrates with commerce platforms such as Shopify and PayPal, allowing merchants to opt in and be accessible to AI shopping agents.

Kite is actively building further integrations across commerce, finance, and data sectors.

The company was previously known as Zettablock.

🔗 Source: PayPal

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ Infrastructure startups benefit from timing market transitions correctly

Kite’s $18 million Series A demonstrates how startups can capture investor interest by positioning themselves at the intersection of emerging trends.

The company’s timing aligns with significant market predictions, including Gartner’s forecast that 15% of daily work decisions will be made independently by agentic AI by 2028 2.

Industry analysis shows that over 50% of enterprise applications now incorporate AI-powered payment solutions, indicating rapid adoption of AI-driven financial infrastructure 3.

PayPal Ventures’ lead investment specifically highlights the payment infrastructure gap, with Partner Alan Du noting that “payment has proven to be a challenging technical gap” for AI agents, with traditional solutions like virtual cards providing only “short-term workarounds” 1.

The funding round’s success reflects investor confidence that autonomous AI agents will need specialized payment infrastructure, rather than adapting existing human-centric systems.

2️⃣ Deep infrastructure experience creates competitive advantages in emerging markets