AEON Raises $8M for AI Payments

AEON, an AI-focused blockchain settlement infrastructure platform, announced the completion of an $8 million pre-seed funding round led by YZi Labs. The round also included participation from IDG Capital, HashKey Capital, Stanford Blockchain Builders Fund, Oak Grove Ventures, and several other investors. The company said the funding will support the development of infrastructure designed for an agentic economy, where AI systems interact and transact independently.

AEON is building a settlement layer aimed at allowing AI agents to complete financial actions without direct human involvement. The company focuses on connecting Agent-to-Agent (A2A) interactions with real-world payment systems and merchant settlements. Its goal is to create infrastructure where AI systems can exchange value in the same way they exchange information.

Earlier this year, AEON launched its first AI payment product, allowing AI agents to execute blockchain-based transactions and connect with more than 50 million merchants worldwide. The company was also among the early partners working with Coinbase’s x402 protocol, which is designed to support machine-driven payment systems.

AEON recently expanded its infrastructure through a partnership with BNB Chain, a blockchain ecosystem for decentralized applications. Together, they introduced the x402 Facilitator, which provides on-chain settlement, transaction verification, and permanent payment records across the network.

According to the company, AEON uses several AI-focused protocols, including x402, ERC-8004, Google AP2, and MCP. The system is designed to support direct financial interactions between AI agents while also extending those payments into real-world merchant environments. The founding team includes former employees from Binance, Chainlink, Google, HSBC, and GrabPay.

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