Atum leaves stealth with $14M to build an open payments network
What's the deal? AtumDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has raised $13.5 million in seed funding to build what it calls the open payments network for global money movement. The San Francisco company emerged from stealth on September 22, connecting payment companies, developers, and enterprises through a single coordination layer.
Who's backing it? VariantDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and PayPal Ventures led the round, joined by Abstract Ventures, Road CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Mirana VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, First CommitDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and Credibly NeutralDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. Charlie Songhurst joined as a strategic advisor.
What does it do? Atum sits between fragmented payment rails, currencies, and blockchains as a coordination layer. Any integrator, developer, or application can submit a payment request, while settlement providers compete to fulfil it across any supported chain and stablecoin. Senders specify what they will send; receivers get what they asked to receive.
What it isn't: The company issues no currency, runs no blockchain, favours no rail, and does not take custody of customer funds. Atum is paid only on volume, a structure it says keeps the network neutral and aligned with everyone building on it.
Why now? Stablecoins offer fast, low-cost global rails but are scattered across many blockchains, pushing complexity onto users. Atum supports both standard stablecoin payments and agentic payments through protocols including x402 and MPP. "Both humans and agents are completing payments on Atum today," the company said.
Who's behind it? Founder and chief executive officer Pete Cooling previously led the crypto product team at Visa and represented the company on the Linux OpenWallet FoundationDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. "This is my life's work," Cooling said. "Onchain accounts are the future bank accounts, and new infrastructure is needed to make money move more seamlessly than it does today."
Who uses it? Atum targets card issuers and acquirers, payment service providers, card networks, stablecoin orchestrators, wallets, fintechs, and enterprises, plus developers building on top. The network is open to builders now.
The signal: Backing from PayPal Ventures and crypto-native investors points to growing conviction that stablecoins need a neutral routing layer to become mainstream payment infrastructure. Atum is betting that the winning role is coordination, not custody.
Image credit: Atum
