Natural Raises $30M to Build AI Agent Payment Rails
Get the Tech newsletter
Daily tech — startups, AI labs, chips, the launches that shape the next decade. Free.
- Natural raised a $30 million Series A led by Forerunner founder Kirsten Green, bringing the startup's total funding to $40 million after a beta period.
- Kahlil Lalji, a former Earnin engineer whose prior fintech Ivella was acquired in 2023, co-founded Natural in 2025 with Eric Wang and ex-Nextdoor engineering manager Walt Leung.
- Lalji told TechCrunch Natural has made enough architectural decisions to have a "good shot" at competing with Stripe, which the startup names as its primary rival in agent payments.
- Natural plans to support both stablecoins and traditional bank payments, while DCVC-backed rival Skyfire Systems is already rebuilding agent-payment rails using USD-backed stablecoins.
- Natural has hired senior staff from Stripe, Ramp, and Square, signaling direct talent poaching from incumbents.
- Lalji projects that if transactions shift to computer speed, the total number of payments could grow by "two or three or four orders of magnitude" — the market-expansion thesis behind the pitch.
Why it matters: Natural is stepping into Stripe's lane with $40 million in the bank and Stripe alumni on staff. Stablecoin-native rivals like Skyfire are already live in agent payments, meaning the competitive window is measured in quarters — and Lalji is betting the total payments market could multiply by 100x to 10,000x if machine-speed transactions become routine.
