Funding

Baselayer Raises $35M in Series A Funding Led by M13

Sep 23, 2026 | By Devin Jacobs

Baselayer, a NYC-based provider of an identity and risk infrastructure platform, has raised $35 million in a Series A funding round led by M13.

SUMMARY

  • Baselayer raised $35M in Series A funding.
  • Funds will support identity and risk infrastructure.
  • Baselayer provides security solutions for businesses and AI agents.

The round also saw participation from Torch Capital, Picus Ventures, Afore Capital, and Matt Thompson.

The company will use the funding to expand its operations and business reach as it develops identity and risk infrastructure for businesses and autonomous AI agents.

What is Baselayer?

Baselayer provides identity verification and risk infrastructure for financial institutions, payments companies, businesses, and autonomous agents.

Its platform helps organizations verify businesses and assess risk before allowing transactions or other activities. The company is now extending this infrastructure to AI agents that can act on behalf of businesses and individuals.

Read More:AI Startup Beagle Labs Raises $4.1M in Pre-Seed Funding

Baselayer works with agent builders, card networks, financial institutions, and payments companies to help establish who an AI agent represents, whether it is authorized to act, and whether the party involved can be trusted.

How Much Funding Has Baselayer Raised?

Baselayer has raised $35 million in its latest Series A funding round.

The source does not provide details about previous funding rounds or the company's total funding raised to date.

Who Invested in Baselayer’s Series A Round?

M13 led the Series A funding round.

Other participants included:

  • Torch Capital
  • Picus Ventures
  • Afore Capital
  • Matt Thompson

Why the Funding Matters

Baselayer plans to use the funding to expand its operations and business reach.

The company is also extending its identity and risk infrastructure to autonomous AI agents as agentic commerce becomes more widely adopted.

Who founded Baselayer?

Baselayer was founded in 2024 by Timothy Hyde and Jonathan Awad.

Timothy Hyde is a machine learning pioneer, while Jonathan Awad has a background in risk management.

The company is based in New York City.

Leadership Comments

"Every era of commerce has required a new trust layer, but historically that infrastructure gets built only after fraud and abuse make the problem impossible to ignore," said Jonathan Awad, co-founder and CEO of Baselayer. "Agentic commerce is moving too fast for the industry to repeat that mistake.

"Agents don't carry ID, and the infrastructure built to verify humans and businesses simply doesn't recognize them," said Timothy Hyde, co-founder and CTO of Baselayer. "Static fraud controls end up blocking good customers while sophisticated attacks walk through.

Market and Business Growth

Baselayer's platform is used by more than 2,300 financial institutions and payments companies.

The company says its technology has helped customers prevent more than $1 billion in fraud losses.

Baselayer works with companies including FIS, Prove, Socure, Exa, Parallel Web Systems, Natural, Nevermined, and Lane.

The company is also involved in industry initiatives and standards including the FIDO Alliance Authentication Working Group, Legal Context Protocol, and the x402 Identity Working Group.

What Happens Next?

Baselayer plans to expand its operations and business reach while extending its identity and risk infrastructure to autonomous AI agents.

The company will continue working with financial institutions, payments companies, agent builders, and other businesses as demand for agentic commerce infrastructure grows.

Read More:AI Startup Sela Raises $21M in Total Funding

Recommended Stories for You