Why We Invested in Kite: Building the Foundational Infrastructure for the Agentic Economy
Nearly two years ago, we made an investment in Zettablock, a company dedicated to addressing the growing challenge of data fragmentation in web3. The team was focused on a difficult problem: how to access and process on-chain data efficiently. They developed a full-stack platform that enabled developers to concentrate on creating innovative applications without the burden of building costly and complex data infrastructure. Our confidence in the company was based on their elegant solution to a pressing issue and the team’s deep expertise in large-scale data systems.
That core belief has not only remained firm but has grown stronger over time. The foundational work Zettablock did in creating verifiable, real-time data infrastructure has proven to be more important than we initially anticipated. Today, the company, now renamed Kite, is using that foundation to build the trust and transaction layer necessary for the next phase of the internet: the agentic web. As an early investor, we are excited to witness the team’s progress, which has recently culminated in a new $18 million Series A funding round. This brings Kite’s total funding to $33 million, with General Catalyst and PayPal Ventures co-leading the round. This milestone also marks the company’s new focus and the launch of Kite Agent Identity Resolution (Kite AIR), a pioneering solution.
The Evolution of Kite’s Vision and Technology
Our initial thesis was that Zettablock’s technology would become essential as blockchain technology scaled. However, it quickly became clear that the primary users of this verifiable data would not just be human developers but autonomous agents. Chi Zhang, Kite’s Co-Founder and CEO, explains, “From the beginning, we believed that autonomous agents would become the dominant user interface for digital economies in the future. But agents cannot function without access to structured, verifiable data. Building that foundation was the first step.”
The infrastructure originally built by Zettablock to support decentralized networks such as Polygon, Sui, and Chainlink now serves as the foundation that allows autonomous agents to perceive the world with context, history, and provenance. The company’s early work solving data fragmentation for developers was a necessary precursor to addressing the challenges of trust and identity for machines.
Kite is now focused on building the foundational infrastructure for a future where AI agents can securely and autonomously transact and operate. Current web identity and payment systems are designed for humans and are too rigid to support swarms of agents conducting high-frequency micro-transactions. Kite AIR directly addresses this issue by providing a system that offers programmable identity, native stablecoin payments, and policy enforcement on a blockchain optimized for autonomous agents.
The core components of Kite AIR include the Agent Passport, which provides a verifiable identity for agents along with operational guardrails, and the Agent App Store, a marketplace where agents can discover, pay for, and access services such as APIs and commerce tools. Kite is already live with open integrations for major platforms like Shopify and PayPal. This allows AI shopping agents to discover and purchase from stores with on-chain traceability using stablecoins.
Why We Invested in Kite: A Deepening Conviction
Our initial excitement about Zettablock has evolved into a profound conviction in Kite for three main reasons. First, the mission has become even more critical. While simplifying data access for developers was a significant challenge, building the foundational infrastructure for the entire machine-to-machine economy is an even greater priority.
Second, the foundation Kite has built is a unique advantage. Rather than pivoting away from its original mission, Kite has evolved from it. The company’s experience in creating large-scale, real-time data infrastructure gives it a strong head start and a deep understanding of the integrity and provenance needed for agents to operate safely.
Third, the team is perfectly suited for this moment. Our early confidence in the team, which includes members with experience from Databricks, Uber, and Coinbase, has been fully validated. Their unmatched expertise in blockchain protocol engineering, large-scale data infrastructure, and applied AI is exactly what is needed to build for the agent economy.
We are proud to continue our partnership with Chi Zhang, Scott, and the entire Kite team. They are tackling a problem that is both timely and essential for the future of the internet. The agentic web is on the horizon, and we believe Kite is building the foundational trust layer that will support it.
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Source: original article.