Sean Neville's Catena Labs raises $30 million Series A to build financial transaction tools for AI agents

Catena Labs, founded by Circle cofounder Sean Neville and former Circle executive Matt Venables, secured $30 million in Series A funding led by Acrew Capital and a16z crypto, following an $18 million initial round in 2025.

The platform lets users establish guardrails for how their AI agents (autonomous software entities that make decisions independently) move money, including spending limits, approved payment recipients, and account balance caps.

Catena Labs is applying for a national trust bank charter from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to process payments and hold customer funds; Neville stated that the majority or all initial transactions will be executed by agents.