Sponge

Active

Financial infrastructure for the agent economy

Winter 2026Founded 20263 peopleSan Francisco, CA, USA

paysponge.com/ ↗LinkedIn ↗X ↗See on the Idea Map B2B momentum

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AI insightcan contain mistakes

Agent Financial InfrastructureSaaSAI platforms, agent developers, fintechsLow competition

Moat

Agent-first payment system (bank accounts, crypto, cards) eliminates human friction; B2B2B2A network effects.

Key risk

Nascent market; regulatory uncertainty on autonomous payments; competing against fintech APIs.

Why now

Agent adoption accelerating; agents need autonomous financial capabilities; fintech infra maturing.

Competitors

Emerging space, fintech payment APIs

About

Sponge is the easiest way for agents to hold and spend money, and for businesses to sell directly to them. For agents: Sponge lets agents hold funds and transact autonomously with other agents and businesses using bank accounts, cards, and crypto. Agents can autonomously purchase services such as email, browser use, and premium data without human involvement. For businesses: Sponge makes it easy to onboard and accept payments from agents without human interaction. Businesses can sell their services directly to agents with a few clicks, no code changes required.

From their website

as of Jun 7, 2026paysponge.com ↗

API/InfraSubscription

Sponge provides financial infrastructure and wallet-enabled payments for AI agents, enabling agents to hold, spend, invest, and earn money while businesses can sell services to agents with minimal integration. It supports payments via x402 and MPP, and offers wallets, a gateway to onboard agents, and cross-chain compatibility.

Sponge offers agent wallets that let agents hold and spend money, invest, and earn using credit cards, bank accounts, and crypto. Businesses can sell directly to agents through Sponge Gateway, which onboarding and payment acceptance from agents via x402 and MPP with no code changes. Features include wallet accounts for agents, a Visa-based agent card, cross-chain support, spending controls, and TypeScript SDK integrations for developers. The product emphasizes easy onboarding, wallet-based payments, and controlled spending for agent ecosystems.

Who it’s for: Businesses and developers who build or deploy AI agents, platforms that sell services to AI agents, and organizations needing programmable payouts and wallet-based financial flows for an agent economy.

Features

agent wallets for holding and spending
gateway onboarding and payment acceptance via x402 and MPP
credit card/ bank/ crypto payments
spending controls (budgets, per-transaction limits, approved domains)
cross-chain support
TypeScript SDK for developers
vendor/services selling directly to agents

mentions developer SDK and gateway; product-focused with onboarding and payments infrastructure

Founders · 3

Eric ZhangFounder

Stripe

Co-founder Sponge (YC W26). Ex-Stripe Crypto.

LinkedIn ↗

Jae ChoiFounder

Stripe

Co-founder Sponge (YC W26). Ex-Stripe Crypto.

LinkedIn ↗

Rishab LuthraFounder

Stripe

Co-founder Sponge (YC W26). Ex-Stripe Crypto.

LinkedIn ↗

Launch

Launched on Y Combinator · Feb 2026

View launch post ↗

The easiest way for agents to hold and spend money, and for businesses to sell directly to them

Sponge provides wallet and gateway infrastructure that lets agents sign up, hold funds, and pay for services without human involvement, and lets businesses onboard and transact directly with agents via an API. The core value is enabling autonomous agents to operate economically by handling payments and purchases independently.

B2B