Exclusive: Circle cofounder raises $30 million for Series A ‘AI-native bank’ Catena Labs
Sean Neville, cofounder of Circle, has raised $30 million for his startup Catena Labs, which focuses on AI-driven financial transactions. The funding round was led by Acrew Capital and a16z crypto, with additional participation from other notable investors. Catena Labs is also applying for a national trust bank charter to enhance its regulatory framework for processing payments.
- ▪Sean Neville's startup Catena Labs has raised $30 million in a Series A funding round.
- ▪The funding was led by Acrew Capital and the crypto arm of Andreessen Horowitz.
- ▪Catena Labs is applying for a national trust bank charter in New York to process payments.
3 outlets in our directory ran this story, first to last over 2 hours. All of the coverage we found sits in one bucket: centre. That one-sidedness is itself worth noticing.
- ▪ Catena Labs secures $30M Series A, files for bank charter to build financial rails for AI agents — Crypto Briefing
- ▪ Circle cofounder Sean Neville's Catena Labs, which lets users set financial guardrails for AI agents, raised a $30M Series A and applies for a US bank charter (Ben Weiss/Fortune) — Techmeme
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| Original publisher | Fortune |
| Canonical URL | https://fortune.com/2026/05/20/catena-labs-series-a-sean-neville-ai-native-bank/ |
| Publication time | Wed, 20 May 2026 12:00:00 +0000 |
| Retrieval time | 2026-05-20T12:20:02.472Z |
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Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Sean Neville, who cofounded the stablecoin giant Circle, has raised another stash of capital from top-flight venture capitalists. His startup Catena Labs, which builds tools to allow AI agents to safely conduct financial transactions, announced Wednesday that it’s secured $30 million in a Series A funding round led by Acrew Capital and the crypto arm of Andreessen Horowitz (a16z crypto).Recommended Video Neville declined to specify at what valuation he raised the capital for his newest startup, which drummed up an initial round of $18 million led by a16z crypto in 2025. Other participants in the more recent fundraise include Breyer Capital, General Catalyst, and QED.
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