Lava

Lava Payments provides a digital wallet designed to streamline transactions for AI agents, addressing the complexities of the emerging 'agent-native economy'. The company was founded by Mitchell Jones, a Yale graduate with a background at Goldman Sachs and Meta, who also founded the Y Combinator-backed fintech startup, Lendtable. The idea for Lava emerged from Jones's own frustrations while developing AI applications, where he faced the inefficiency of using multiple subscriptions and payment methods for the same underlying AI models.

The company's core product is a digital wallet that allows users and developers to load funds as usage credits. These credits can then be used seamlessly across various participating merchants and foundational AI models like GPT and Claude on a pay-as-you-go basis. This system is designed to eliminate the need for constant human intervention and re-authentication, enabling autonomous AI agents to transact without friction. By creating a unified payment layer, Lava aims to help developers focus on building AI products rather than complex, usage-based billing infrastructure.

The business model is tailored for AI companies, from early-stage developers to larger teams scaling their usage-based services. In August 2025, the company announced it had secured $5.8 million in a seed funding round led by Lerer Hippeau, with participation from Harlem Capital, Streamlined Ventures, and Westbound. The capital is intended for hiring, product development, and go-to-market strategies.

Keywords: AI payments, agent-native economy, digital wallet, usage-based billing, developer tools, fintech, autonomous transactions, pay-as-you-go AI, payment infrastructure, API payments, prepaid credits, transaction simplification, AI billing, Mitchell Jones