What is Kite AI?

In a digital world where artificial intelligence increasingly handles tasks from booking travel to managing finances, Kite AI emerges as a specialized Layer 1 blockchain designed to support these autonomous systems. The project recently closed an $18 million Series A funding round, pushing its total capital raised to $33 million. This investment underscores the growing need for infrastructure that allows AI agents—software entities that act independently—to interact securely and efficiently. Kite AI's network focuses on providing identity verification, governance tools, and payment rails tailored for these agents, aiming to facilitate a seamless exchange of services in what the team calls the agentic economy

The concept draws from projections that AI agents could represent a $240 billion market opportunity over the next decade. As agents proliferate, they require a reliable backbone to authenticate actions, enforce rules, and settle transactions without constant human oversight. Kite AI positions itself as that backbone, with its testnet already demonstrating real-world usage through millions of interactions

Building the Foundation for Autonomous Agents

Kite AI's core offering is a blockchain optimized for AI-driven autonomy. Unlike general-purpose networks, it incorporates elements like cryptographic identities for agents, models, datasets, and services. This setup ensures traceability and provenance, meaning users can verify the origin and behavior of any agent involved in a transaction.

Consider a practical scenario: An AI agent shopping for groceries on behalf of a user. It scans inventories across platforms, negotiates prices, and completes payment—all while adhering to predefined spending limits. Kite AI enables this through its programmable governance layer, which lets creators set permissions, such as capping expenditures at $50 per order or restricting access to certain data sources. Short. Precise. Effective.

The network also integrates stablecoin payments with near-zero fees, allowing instant settlements. Agents can hold balances, trigger escrow releases based on verified usage, and log activities cryptographically for audits. Security features include optional zero-knowledge proofs, which keep sensitive details private while confirming compliance.

At its heart lies the Proof of Attributed Intelligence (PoAI) consensus mechanism. This approach rewards participants for verifiable contributions, such as providing high-quality data or computational resources. It aligns incentives across the ecosystem, encouraging sustained participation. Validators, numbering over 100 on the testnet, stake tokens to secure the network, with current staked amounts reaching 17.8 million units.

Network performance stands out. Transactions cost less than $0.000001 each. Blocks finalize in one second. Throughput hits 1.01 million transactions per second. These specs make it suitable for high-volume agent interactions, where delays could disrupt flows.

A Closer Look at the Technology

Kite AI's architecture revolves around an Agent Store, a marketplace where developers list and users discover agents. Think of it as an app store for AI services: general-purpose bots for scheduling, specialized ones for legal research, or collaborative swarms tackling complex goals like event planning. Builders submit agents for vetting on security, reliability, and transparency. Once approved, they integrate directly, moving funds peer-to-peer without intermediaries.

Integrations already connect to Shopify and PayPal merchants, letting agents handle e-commerce end-to-end with stablecoin settlements. Users activate a "Passport"—a wallet-based identity—to interact. The portal starts with Anthropic's Claude model, with OpenAI and Perplexity integrations slated next.

On the economic side, Kite AI addresses two-sided markets common in agent ecosystems. Service providers stake $KITE tokens to operate as modules, committing "skin in the game" for quality delivery. Demand-side incentives onboard enterprises and power users, balancing subsidies to kickstart network effects. This design tackles cold-start challenges, where platforms struggle to attract both suppliers and consumers simultaneously.

Long-term, game-theoretic elements reward committed contributors as the network grows. Utility drives demand: Agents transact fees, enterprises subscribe for premium access, developers earn from builds. Total token supply caps at 1.7 billion, fostering scarcity and alignment.

The internet’s next evolution: agent-first (Kite AI)## Securing $33 Million in Funding

The Series A round, announced in early September 2025, was led by PayPal Ventures and General Catalyst. Participants included 8VC, Samsung Next, SBI US Gateway Fund, Vertex Ventures, Hashed, HashKey Capital, Dispersion Capital, Alumni Ventures, Avalanche Foundation, GSR, LayerZero, Animoca Brands, Essence Venture, and Alchemy. These backers bring expertise in fintech, hardware, and cross-chain tech, signaling confidence in Kite AI's niche.

Angel investors added depth. Evan Cheng, co-founder and CEO of Mysten Labs, contributed alongside Hao Min, VP at Circle. Edwin Aoki, SVP at Nasdaq and former PayPal blockchain CTO, joined Frank Chang, VP at Uber, and Navin Gupta, CEO of Crystal Intelligence and ex-Ripple managing director. From tech giants: Bohan Zhang of OpenAI's technical staff, John Liu, head of product at AWS. Academics rounded it out—Grigore Rosu, professor at UIUC; Haiyan Huang, UC Berkeley professor; Sriram Vishwanath, Georgia Tech professor.

This capital will accelerate development of the mainnet and whitepaper, both slated for release soon. It also funds ecosystem grants for builders creating agent tools.

The Team Driving the Vision

Behind Kite AI is a group blending AI research, blockchain engineering, and business strategy. Co-founder and CEO Chi Zhang holds a PhD in machine learning from UC Berkeley. He led products at Databricks and founded AI efforts at dotData, an AutoML platform. His focus: Executing on programmable trust for agents.

CTO Scott Shi built Uber's internal Scale AI team, growing it to over 200 engineers, and contributed to Salesforce's Einstein AI. With a decade in platforms handling billions of transactions, he ensures scalability.

VP of Global Head of BD and Strategy Lei Lei, a Harvard and MIT graduate, spent 10 years on Wall Street before roles at BlockFi, AscendEX, and NEAR Protocol. He forges institutional ties.

Head of Product Yusuke Muraoka brings 15 years in AI, including senior research at NEC and co-founding dotData, with 30 patents. Vikas Pandey, head of protocol, engineered at NEAR, contributed to Linux Foundation, and co-founded EME, a decentralized ML platform.

Kite’s Founding Team (Kite AI)The core team expands this. Cindy Shi, head of marketing, transitioned from a PhD in materials science and McKinsey consulting to VMware strategy. Tanya Aggarwal, senior marketing lead, was an early VC at Click Ventures (backing Spotify, Palantir) and Aethir's first marketer.

Henry Lee leads ecosystem products; he engineered AI at Oxa Robotics, co-founded a Web3-AI startup, and headed Solana in Malaysia. Stephen Allen, DeFi lead, engineered at Rolls-Royce before scaling a DeFi project to $8 million TVL and leading at RARI Foundation.

APAC lead Laughing architected at Alibaba, researched for BlockBeats, and marketed a top Chinese NFT project. Product manager Kiana Afshar studied data science at UC Berkeley, engineered at BlackRock and Google, and built at CreatorDAO. Designer Philip Balliet, Stanford alum, founded design at Nearpod and strategized for Silicon Valley startups.

This mix—decades in AI, data, and Web3—equips Kite AI to navigate technical and market hurdles.

Testnet Milestones and User Engagement

Kite AI's testnet, live since February 2025, has seen robust activity. Phase 1 alone processed over 546 million agent calls, averaging 11.4 million daily, with 4 million users participating. Participants earn points through tasks like social engagements, friend invites, and AI interactions—potentially qualifying for future airdrops.

To join, users visit the testnet portal, connect a wallet, and experiment with agents. Developers deploy modules, stake test tokens, and simulate transactions. Metrics highlight efficiency: Low latency supports real-time coordination, while PoAI verifies contributions without central oversight.

Early adopters include Fortune 500 firms testing enterprise agents. The network's 100+ validators maintain uptime, with staked assets reflecting commitment. While scaling governance for diverse agents poses a challenge, feedback loops refine features, like enhanced reputation scoring via signed logs.

What's Next for Kite AI

Mainnet launch looms, promising full PoAI deployment and broader stablecoin support. The upcoming whitepaper will detail tokenomics and security models. Ecosystem grants target indie developers and corporations alike, fostering an open marketplace.

Kite AI invites participation: Interested participants can join the Discord for discussions, submit agents to the store, or stake as a validator. As agents evolve from assistants to coordinators, this L1 could standardize their operations. The path forward involves iterative testing, partner expansions, and community input.

In sum, Kite AI addresses a precise gap: Trust in autonomy. With solid funding, a capable team, and promising testnet data, it advances toward enabling agents to thrive independently. Developers and users alike stand to gain from its tools, one verified transaction at a time.

Sources:

• Kite AI Testnet v1 (Aero):
• Kite AI Funding Announcement:
• Kite AI’s Proof of Attributed Intelligence:
• Kite’s Founding Team Background: