Key facts
- Natural has raised $30 million in a Series A funding round.
- The startup is developing a payment infrastructure for AI agents.
- Natural aims to enable AI agents to make autonomous payments and collect funds.
- The company's total funding has reached $40 million.
- Natural intends to compete with established payment providers such as Stripe.
Natural, a startup focused on creating payment infrastructure for AI agents, has secured $30 million in Series A funding. The company aims to address the limitations of current financial systems, which were designed for human-initiated transactions and are not equipped to handle autonomous payments by AI agents. Natural's platform is intended to allow AI agents to move and store funds, make autonomous payments, and collect money.
The funding round was led by venture capital firm Forerunner, bringing Natural's total funding to $40 million. Co-founder and CEO Kahlil Lalji, who previously founded Ivella and worked at Earnin, recognized the growing need for financial architecture that can support AI agents operating at machine speed.
Natural plans to compete directly with established payment giants like Stripe, which is also reportedly working on similar solutions. The startup's ambition extends beyond simple checkout processes, aiming to reinvent payment infrastructure, including dispute resolution. Natural also plans to incorporate stablecoins into its architecture while maintaining support for traditional bank payments. Lalji believes that enabling transactions at computer speed could dramatically increase the volume of global payments.