Natural raises $30M to build payment rails for AI agents and challenge Stripe's dominance

Natural Secures $30M to Build Payment Infrastructure for AI Agents

Natural has raised $30 million in Series A funding led by Kirsten Green, founder and managing partner at Forerunner, bringing the startup's total funding to more than $40 million 1

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. The company, founded in 2025 by Kahlil Lalji, Eric Wang, and Walt Leung, is building payment rails for AI agents designed to handle autonomous transactions at computer speed rather than human speed 1

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The startup previously raised $9.8 million in seed funding about 10 months ago in September 2025 2

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. Lalji, who has a background in banking and finance, co-founded the YC-backed banking startup Ivella, which was sold to Earnin in 2023 1

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Why AI Agents Need New Payments Systems

AI agents are executing increasingly sophisticated tasks like identifying freight vendors, comparing prices, and organizing deliveries. But when it comes to making payments for these services, they still need human authorization 1

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. Traditional payment systems like credit cards and ACH rely on human-initiated transactions, creating bottlenecks for agents engineered to work autonomously 1

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Lalji realized about a year ago that AI agents were evolving faster than existing financial architecture, which can't support tasks like autonomously paying vendors, collecting payments, or transacting with each other 1

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. "I kept on coming back to it," Lalji said. "It just feels obvious that agentic payments are going to be structurally the most important problem [in the] space" 1

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Natural's Product Suite and Agent Orchestration Layer

Natural positions itself as an agent orchestration layer that enables AI agents to move and store funds 1

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. The company released six products to general availability on Monday, including Wallets, which are FDIC-insured wallets for agents; Vault, providing one-way accounts that let agents move money in but not out; Pay, which lets companies send money to an agent, business or consumer; Request, for collecting money; Transfer, for moving funds between accounts; and Connect, which lets companies build platforms and marketplaces on Natural 2

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The startup plans to roll out three more products within months, including Voice, which will allow AI agents to collect card details and other PCI information over the phone; Accept, which will turn agents into merchants; and Cards, for issuing debit and charge cards for agents 2

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. In the fourth quarter, Natural plans to launch another four products including Charge, Credit, Direct, and Billing to support AI-driven transactions 2

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Taking On Stripe and Competing in AI-Driven Financial Infrastructure

Natural views Stripe as its main competitor, with both companies racing to reinvent payments for AI agents 1

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. Although Natural has operated in beta trial until now, Lalji told TechCrunch that the startup has made enough critical architectural decisions to give it a "good shot" at competing with incumbents like Stripe 1

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The startup's mission has attracted senior staff with fintech expertise who previously worked at Stripe, Ramp, and Square 1

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. Green was attracted by Natural's broader ambitions, including reinventing how disputed transactions are handled 1

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. "New platform shift, new rails," Green said. "Agentic payments aren't yet a thing, but [Natural] has the team and ambition to build this new infrastructure" 2

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Several other startups, including DCVC-backed Skyfire Systems, are trying to reinvent the payments backbone for AI agents using USD-backed stablecoins 1

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. While Natural plans to incorporate stablecoins into its architecture, it is also building support for traditional bank payments 1

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Lalji is betting the entire market could grow significantly if transactions happen at computer speed rather than human speed. "The number of payments that may occur in the world may be two or three or four orders of magnitude greater than the number of payments that exist today," he said 1

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. "We made a bet on agentic payments a year ago, when no one was talking about it," Lalji said. "We knew that we needed to own that entire stack" 2

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