Key Takeaways
- • Tria, a New York-based fintech startup, secured $12 million in pre-seed and strategic funding to build a self-custodial neobank serving both human users and AI agents, with participation from P2 Capital Ventures, Aptos, and executives from major blockchain firms.
- • The funding round included strategic backing from leaders at Polygon Labs, Ethereum Foundation, Wintermute, Sentient Labs, 0G Labs, Concrete, and Eigen, with Polychain and Polygon serving as pre-seed advisors, signaling strong institutional support within the crypto infrastructure ecosystem.
- • Tria's proprietary BestPath AVS technology powers decentralized settlements across 250,000+ users and 70+ protocols (Polygon, Arbitrum, Sentient, Injective), enabling payments and trades from a single self-custodial balance with Visa card support in over 150 countries.
- • The platform supports more than 1,000 tokens and positions itself as both a consumer neobank and programmable payments infrastructure, targeting the projected $25–30 trillion annual market for AI-driven transactions by 2030.
- • Co-founders Parth Bhalla and Vijit Katta assembled a team with deep crypto pedigree from Binance, Polygon, OpenSea, Nethermind, and Intel, while also securing backing from UAE Royal Family members and government leaders; the company plans a public allocation round allowing users to own platform equity.
Summary
Tria, a New York-based fintech company, closed a $12 million pre-seed and strategic funding round to develop what it describes as the first self-custodial neobank designed for both individual users and AI agents. The round drew participation from P2 Capital Ventures, the Aptos blockchain network, and Tria's community, alongside strategic involvement from prominent figures at Polygon Labs, Ethereum Foundation, Wintermute, Sentient Labs, 0G Labs, Concrete, and Eigen Labs. Polychain Capital and Polygon took advisory roles in the pre-seed stage, underscoring the round's institutional weight within the decentralized finance ecosystem.
Founded by Parth Bhalla and Vijit Katta, Tria's core team comprises veterans from leading crypto platforms and protocols, including Binance, Polygon, OpenSea, Nethermind, and Intel. The founding group also includes backing from members of the UAE Royal Family and government officials, reflecting both geopolitical and commercial support for the venture. This composition signals the founders' ambition to bridge consumer finance, enterprise infrastructure, and emerging AI-driven payment systems.
Tria's core product enables users to spend, trade, and earn from a single self-custodial balance, a feature differentiated from traditional neobanks by blockchain integration. The platform supports Visa card issuance in over 150 countries and operates across more than 1,000 tokens. Its proprietary BestPath AVS (actively validated service) technology powers decentralized settlement infrastructure, currently routing payments and trades for approximately 250,000 users across more than 70 protocols, including Polygon, Arbitrum, Sentient, and Injective. This multi-chain positioning addresses fragmentation in the crypto ecosystem while maintaining self-custody, a key value proposition for institutional and retail users concerned with counterparty risk.
The company's strategic positioning reflects a macroeconomic thesis: AI-driven transactions are projected to reach $25–30 trillion annually by 2030, and Tria aims to capture this demand by providing payment infrastructure optimized for machine agents. Beyond consumer applications, Tria markets itself as programmable payments infrastructure, enabling developers and enterprises to embed settlement logic directly into applications. To expand user alignment with platform success, Tria is preparing a public allocation round that will allow users to purchase equity stakes in the company, a structure increasingly common among blockchain-native financial platforms seeking to align incentives.
Founded by Parth Bhalla and Vijit Katta, Tria's core team comprises veterans from leading crypto platforms and protocols, including Binance, Polygon, OpenSea, Nethermind, and Intel. The founding group also includes backing from members of the UAE Royal Family and government officials, reflecting both geopolitical and commercial support for the venture. This composition signals the founders' ambition to bridge consumer finance, enterprise infrastructure, and emerging AI-driven payment systems.
Tria's core product enables users to spend, trade, and earn from a single self-custodial balance, a feature differentiated from traditional neobanks by blockchain integration. The platform supports Visa card issuance in over 150 countries and operates across more than 1,000 tokens. Its proprietary BestPath AVS (actively validated service) technology powers decentralized settlement infrastructure, currently routing payments and trades for approximately 250,000 users across more than 70 protocols, including Polygon, Arbitrum, Sentient, and Injective. This multi-chain positioning addresses fragmentation in the crypto ecosystem while maintaining self-custody, a key value proposition for institutional and retail users concerned with counterparty risk.
The company's strategic positioning reflects a macroeconomic thesis: AI-driven transactions are projected to reach $25–30 trillion annually by 2030, and Tria aims to capture this demand by providing payment infrastructure optimized for machine agents. Beyond consumer applications, Tria markets itself as programmable payments infrastructure, enabling developers and enterprises to embed settlement logic directly into applications. To expand user alignment with platform success, Tria is preparing a public allocation round that will allow users to purchase equity stakes in the company, a structure increasingly common among blockchain-native financial platforms seeking to align incentives.
Go deeper than the headline
Research every firm in this story, track the ones that matter and get the daily briefing — free for 7 days.