Skyfire, a Payments Platform for AI Agents, Raises $9.5M From Coinbase Ventures and a16z

The company focuses on building a payment infrastructure designed for AI agents, which are software systems capable of making decisions and transacting autonomously

Payments platform Skyfire, founded by former Ripple developers, has raised $9.5 million in a seed funding round led by Coinbase Ventures and a16z’s Crypto Startup Accelerator.

The company builds payment infrastructure for AI agents, which are software systems that can make decisions and transact autonomously, according to a company release. Skyfire’s payment network allows these agents to process transactions without human intervention, using either USDC (USDC) or traditional banking systems.

The innovation caters to the growing AI agent economy, which sees agents being used across industries like financial services and online retail. Skyfire enables fully autonomous payments by giving agents secure wallet access and verifiable identities.

Skyfire is now integrated with Base, the Ethereum (ETH) layer 2 blockchain incubated at Coinbase, which will provide low-cost payment rails for all Agent payments.

The integration comes alongside an investment into Skyfire by Coinbase Ventures, with additional funding from the a16z Crypto Startup Accelerator. This brings Skyfire’s total funding to $9.5 million.

AI agents, explained

For those unfamiliar, AI agents are a type of system that functions like a digital employee, performing tasks, making decisions and, in this case, paying for services. Skyfire acts as the infrastructure that allows these agents to complete transactions without the need for human oversight.

This setup enables seamless transactions at a fraction of the cost, making it attractive to enterprise customers.