Foundation Raises $6.4M In Fulgur-led Round To Launch Passport Prime, A 'Human Authority' Device To Keep AI Agents In Check

Foundation raised $6.4 million to launch Passport Prime, a hardware device for securing digital actions in an AI-automation environment. The funding round was led by Fulgur Ventures with participation from Arche Capital, bringing total funding to $16.5 million. The capital supports expansion beyond Bitcoin self-custody into identity management, multi-factor authentication, and authorization systems for AI agents. Passport Prime ships to pre-order customers and is now available for general purchase. The device is positioned as “Human Authority Hardware,” requiring direct human approval through isolated, secure hardware. It targets approval weaknesses in browser prompts and mobile notifications when autonomous software can operate in the same environment. Passport Prime combines a Bitcoin hardware wallet, FIDO authentication keys, two-factor storage, a secrets vault, and encrypted storage, running on Foundation’s KeyOS microkernel.

"Foundation has raised $6.4 million in a funding round led by Fulgur Ventures as it launches Passport Prime, a new hardware device designed to secure digital actions in an era of AI-driven automation."

"Foundation describes the product as the first example of "Human Authority Hardware," a category of devices intended to ensure that critical digital actions require direct human approval through isolated, secure hardware."

"Foundation argues that existing approval methods - such as browser prompts or mobile notifications - cannot serve as trusted checkpoints when the same environment may host autonomous software."

"Passport Prime combines several functions into a single device, including a Bitcoin hardware wallet, FIDO authentication keys, two-factor authentication storage, a secrets vault, and 50GB of encrypted storage. The device is designed to act as a central approval layer for transactions, credential use, and data access."

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