Self Labs acquires startup Loam to build agentic AI’s digital identity infrastructure

Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP) identity verification and proof-of-personhood (PoP) company Self Labs has completed the acquisition of U.S.-based AI agent and automation startup Loam. Self says that the deal will help it integrate its digital identity infrastructure into agentic applications, enterprise workflows and consumer platforms such as social media.

Birju Shah, Uber’s former head of AI and an assistant professor at Northwestern University, founded ​Loam in 2022. The company developed AI agents that enable autonomous purchases of farmland, building its expertise in agentic system design.

The two firms did not disclose the deal’s value but announced that Shah will join Self as Chief Operating Officer (COO).

“Birju and Loam dramatically strengthen our ability to lead in this agentic era,” says Rene Reinsberg, co-founder and CEO of Self.

Delaware-based Self was founded by former members of blockchain firm Celo, after they acquired ZKP project OpenPassport. The firm completed a US$9 million seed round in November last year, with participation from Greenfield Capital, Startup Capital Ventures x SBI Fund (Softbank) and others. Its clients include Google, Opera, Aave and Velodrome.

The company allows users to confirm they are a real, unique human or verify attributes like age, residency or date of birth without revealing personal information. It also offers onboarding through biometric passports, ID cards and digital IDs, including India’s Aadhaar. Currently, it serves over 14 million verified users across enterprise, fintech, and consumer applications.

Self also offers on-chain proof-of-human verification for AI agents, called Self Protocol, which proves that an agent is backed by a real, unique human.

“Self has built exactly the kind of privacy-preserving human verification layer that this new world needs, and is positioned to become the core identity infrastructure for the internet – not just for users, but for the agents and applications acting on their behalf,” says Loam’s Shah.

In March, Self announced it would provide proof-of-human verification and sanctions screening infrastructure for USA₮, a federally regulated dollar-backed stablecoin launched by Tether. The partners announced the collaboration after USA₮ expanded to the Celo blockchain with infrastructure from Google Cloud.

Article Topics

AI agents  |  blockchain  |  identity verification  |  mergers and acquisitions  |  Self Labs  |  zero knowledge