Basis Theory has closed a $33 million Series B funding round led by Costanoa. The round also includes participation from Stage 2 Capital and Moneta VC, with continued backing from existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners, Kindred Ventures, Box Group, and Offline Ventures.

The payment infrastructure company serves customers including Pinterest, Melio, and MoneyGram. These organizations use Basis Theory’s platform to maintain control over sensitive payment data while working across multiple payment service providers. The new capital will support the company’s expansion into agentic commerce and grow its enterprise-grade payment vault for merchants globally.

Why Merchants Need Independent Payment Infrastructure

Product leaders increasingly view payments as a way to drive growth rather than simply a cost of doing business. But merchants face a problem: managing payment data across different providers requires navigating complex compliance requirements and technical challenges.

Basis Theory addresses this by allowing customers to tokenize and manage sensitive payment information. Companies maintain complete control over how that data is accessed within their own systems or shared with external partners. This approach eliminates vendor lock-in and gives merchants flexibility to build payment systems that fit their specific needs.

“The payments ecosystem is changing rapidly, and merchants no longer want to be locked into rigid platforms. We’re giving control back by making payments data as accessible and programmable as any other data type so it can fuel growth, intelligence, and automation across the entire business.”

Colin Luce, Co-Founder and CEO of Basis Theory

Building the Foundation for AI-Powered Transactions

At the center of Basis Theory’s offering sits a cloud-native, PCI-compliant vault. The vault operates independently from any payment processor or orchestration layer, which means merchants aren’t tied to a single vendor’s ecosystem.

This infrastructure also serves as the foundation for agentic commerce. The company leads the Agentic Commerce Consortium, a group of more than 20 organizations working together to establish standards for agent-led commerce. The consortium focuses on creating the infrastructure that allows AI agents to function as trusted buyers, enabling merchants to participate in this emerging model safely and at scale.

“Basis Theory is at the forefront of a dramatic shift as AI reshapes e-commerce as we know it. By giving merchants secure, real-time control over payment data, Basis Theory enables AI agents to authorize transactions, personalize experiences, and drive autonomous purchasing. They aren’t just keeping up with the future of commerce, they’re building it.”

Amy Cheetham, Partner at Costanoa

From Fintech Veterans to Payment Independence

Three fintech industry veterans founded Basis Theory in 2020: Brian Billingsley, Colin Luce, and Ben Milne. Their combined experience comes from companies like Yodlee, Dwolla, and Klarna, giving them deep knowledge of payment systems and the pain points merchants face.

The company currently employs more than 40 full-time staff members. With the Series B funding, Basis Theory plans to expand its engineering, product, and go-to-market teams. The goal is to accelerate innovation in both payments infrastructure and AI-driven commerce.

What makes Basis Theory different is its independence. Unlike processors or payment orchestration platforms, the company doesn’t compete with the tools merchants already use. Instead, it provides the secure data layer that sits underneath, allowing businesses to design their payment architecture however they choose.

Investor Backing and Next Steps

Costanoa led this round with a clear thesis on the intersection of payments and artificial intelligence. Stage 2 Capital and Moneta VC joined as new investors, while Bessemer Venture Partners, Kindred Ventures, Box Group, and Offline Ventures continued their support from previous rounds.

The funding validates the company’s product-market fit. Basis Theory’s platform offers PCI Level 1 compliance, SOC 2 certification, and a developer-first API that appeals to technical teams building custom payment solutions.

As AI agents begin handling more purchasing decisions, the need for secure, flexible payment infrastructure will only grow. Basis Theory is positioning itself as the independent layer that makes this possible without forcing merchants to sacrifice control or flexibility.

Origianl Creator: Ekaterina Pisareva
Original Link: https://justainews.com/companies/funding-news/basis-theory-lands-33m-for-agentic-commerce-push/
Originally Posted: Tue, 14 Oct 2025 17:24:02 +0000