Shopify, Coinbase & Stripe Forge the Future of Global Commerce Infrastructure
PLUS: A Former Google Senior Software Engineer Is Building Something New
Episode of the Week
In Episode #114 of Geeks of the Valley, we sat down with Jay Zhao, Managing Partner at Leonis Capital, a research-driven VC fund backing technical founders building extraordinary products. We explore how research-driven theses are reshaping AI-first venture strategies, the rise of agentic software, and the compute-and-energy challenges behind today’s largest models. Unpacking the displacement factor framework for spotting breakthrough AI startups months before mainstream adoption. Explore navigating the new AI venture landscape from an investor’s lens.
Since joining Leonis, Jay has led or backed companies like Marqeta (NASDAQ: MQ), HireVue (NASDAQ: CG), Sense (NYSE: CLDR), and Mixamo (acquired by Adobe), and supported investments in Innoviz (NASDAQ: INVZ), Delhivery (IPO), and others. His work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, CNBC, and Venture Capital Journal. He guest lectures at Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, and Tulane, mentors at Girls Who Code and Habitat for Humanity, and writes the Next Trillion newsletter and an AI-focused Substack.
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Venture Radar
Shopify, Coinbase & Stripe Forge the Future of Global Commerce Infrastructure
Shopify, Coinbase, and Stripe launched an integrated solution that enables merchants on Shopify to accept USDC stablecoin payments directly at checkout-without customers needing any knowledge of crypto. While the rollout received limited mainstream attention, the underlying innovation signals a deeper shift: the convergence of programmable money, composable infrastructure, and global commerce rails.
At the heart of this collaboration is a newly deployed onchain protocol from Coinbase, built on Base, its Layer 2 blockchain. The system replicates a familiar process used by credit cards-authorize, capture, refund-but executes it using smart contracts. This protocol enables real-time settlement, drastically reduces transaction costs, and eliminates the traditional bottlenecks of cross-border payments.
What makes this integration seamless is Stripe’s backend, particularly through Privy, a company it acquired to simplify embedded wallet creation. Instead of requiring users to download wallets or manage seed phrases, the system automatically spins up a crypto wallet tied to a verified email or phone number. For the buyer, it feels like any standard online checkout-simple, fast, and secure. Behind the scenes, USDC lands in escrow within seconds, and the merchant gets paid in fiat the moment goods are shipped.
The functionality itself is impressive, but the strategic implications are even more important. For Shopify, this move transforms it from a merchant services company into a participant in the global financial settlement layer. Stripe, already dominant in online payments, is signaling that it’s ready to support blockchain-native transactions as part of the mainstream financial toolkit. And Coinbase is embedding its infrastructure into one of the largest e-commerce ecosystems in the world-without requiring users to interact with crypto at all.
Where this has immediate impact is in underserved and inflation-prone markets. A merchant in Turkey, Nigeria, or Argentina can now sell to a customer in Europe or the US and receive near-instant payment in local currency-without touching traditional banking rails, facing delays, or absorbing FX losses. For small and medium businesses in emerging markets, this represents more than convenience; it’s economic inclusion at protocol speed.
This is not a new payment method slapped onto a crypto wallet-it’s the groundwork for programmable payments at scale. Over time, we could see pricing logic, loyalty systems, and tax compliance all written directly into the payment flow itself. Checkout becomes not just a transaction step, but a layer of computation.
With stablecoin regulation advancing in the US (notably the GENIUS Act) and infrastructure partners aligning behind this model, it's clear this is not a crypto trend-it’s a structural change in how commerce moves. The tools are now live, embedded, and invisible-and that’s exactly why they matter.
Geeks of the Week
Startup Name: Deep Cogito
Geography: US
One-liner: Building general superintelligence.
Founder(s) Background: Senior Software Engineer at Google, Product Manager (Generative Search) at DeepMind.
Thoughts:
Addressing foundational gaps in current AI systems: Deep Cogito is focused on challenges that remain unresolved in existing large language models - namely advanced reasoning and self-improvement. These are widely recognized limitations in today’s architectures, and few companies are structured to pursue them as core objectives. By centering their work on these areas, Deep Cogito is targeting parts of the AI stack that are still open research problems.
Fits within a broader trend of foundational model specialization: As the AI ecosystem shifts from general-purpose models to more architecture-specific and capability-driven research, companies like Deep Cogito may attract attention from both institutional research initiatives and later-stage companies seeking to extend their technical depth. While still early, its positioning aligns with a growing recognition that long-term progress in AI requires more than just scaling existing approaches.
Founder(s) building in stealth
Deals of the Week
Animaj (AI‑Generated Kids Entertainment):
Animaj raised $85 million in growth funding from HarbourView Equity Partners and Bpifrance to expand its AI-driven children’s media platform. The company uses generative AI to produce safe, localized, and adaptive content for kids across digital and streaming platforms. As families demand more personalized and culturally relevant programming, Animaj positions itself as a modern alternative to legacy kids’ entertainment studios.Eigen Labs (Ethereum Restaking & Web3 Infrastructure):
Eigen Labs secured $70 million in funding through a token-based raise led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). The startup is building core infrastructure for Ethereum restaking—enabling validators and users to “restake” ETH for additional yield and to secure modular services like rollups and oracles. With the Ethereum ecosystem rapidly moving toward modular architectures, Eigen’s infrastructure is viewed as essential for the next wave of protocol development.Maven AGI (Autonomous AI Agents for Enterprise)
Maven AGI raised a $50 million Series B from Dell Technologies Capital, Cisco Investments, and SE Ventures to build advanced AI customer service agents that integrate across help desks, ticketing platforms, and CRMs. Unlike traditional chatbots, Maven’s platform aims to function autonomously across entire support workflows using proprietary reasoning models and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG).Pano AI (Wildfire Detection & ClimateTech)
$44 million was raised in a Series B round led by Giant Ventures and Salesforce Ventures to scale Pano AI’s wildfire detection system. The company leverages high-definition camera towers, satellite imaging, and real-time AI analysis to detect early-stage wildfires - enabling fire agencies to respond more quickly.Pelico (Supply Chain Operations SaaS)
Paris-based Pelico secured a $40 million Series B led by General Catalyst to expand its operations management software for manufacturers and logistics teams. Pelico’s platform helps companies detect supply chain disruptions in real time and optimize production across global sites.
Notable Mergers and Acquisitions
Couchbase → Haveli Investments
On June 20, Couchbase agreed to be acquired by private equity firm Haveli Investments for $1.5 billion, or $24.50 per share, prompting a 30% stock surge. The deal includes a "go‑shop" window open until June 23Helsing → €600M Series D
Munich-based defence-tech startup Helsing raised €600 million, more than doubling its valuation to approximately €12 billion. The round, led by Spotify’s Daniel Ek (via Prima Materia), brought total funding to around €1.36 billion. Helsing, which partners with military and industrial firms like Saab, is developing AI-powered drone systems and battle‑management tools for sovereign defence capabilities
This edition is brought to you in partnership with Stella Capital.