Latest news with #ChrisDixon
BBC News
23-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Goring-by-Sea sandpit site owner to sell land after 'abuse'
A man building on a West Sussex field despite being denied planning consent says he now wants to sell the Dixon previously said he would turn the coastal site in Goring-by-Sea into a recreation area with a sandpit, boules pitch and bar Borough Council denied his planning application in 2024 and the Planning Inspectorate upheld the council's decision after Mr Dixon said on Friday he will sell the Marine Drive site after receiving "abuse" online for starting work at the site. Mr Dixon said: "There's been too much criticism. The stuff they say about me is rude, as if I'm just some money grabbing property developer."My kids and my wife see it so I just thought I'd let someone else take the abuse."I was trying to do something that was community based." Mr Dixon announced plans in 2024 to create a "fenced family entertainment area" focused around the began at the site in Borough Council previously said it rejected the plans because it had not received enough detail to prove that "use and operations described in the application would be or are lawful".James and James Estate Agents said it would bring the site to market "soon".Mr Dixon will not try again to obtain planning permission to develop the site and the land will be sold as is, the agency says.
Business Wire
20-05-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Circle Co-Founder Sean Neville Takes Catena Labs Out of Stealth with
BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Catena Labs today announced its plan to establish the first fully regulated AI-native financial institution (FI) designed to serve the unique needs of the emerging AI economy. As a first step toward their long-term vision, today the company released a new open-source project defining protocols and patterns for agentic commerce. The company also confirmed an $18 million financing round led by a16z crypto, with participation from Breyer Capital, Circle Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, CoinFund, Pillar VC, Stanford Engineering VF, and visionary angels including Tom Brady, Bradley Horowitz, Hamel Husain, Kevin Lin, Peter Mattoon, Sam Palmisano, and Balaji Srinivasan. 'Sean and the Catena team have the expertise to meet that challenge. They're building financial infrastructure that agentic commerce can depend on, and we're excited to support their vision," said Chris Dixon, founder and managing partner, a16z crypto. Share Catena was co-founded by Sean Neville, who previously co-founded Circle Internet Group, Inc., and invented the USDC stablecoin. The company aims to address the shortcomings in legacy financial systems that make them poorly suited to the needs of AI agents and agentic commerce. These challenges include the inability to handle agent identity and trust, slow and expensive payment rails, and a broad lack of capabilities designed for AI commerce. "AI agents will soon conduct most economic transactions, but today's financial systems are unprepared and resistant to interactions with automated intelligence," said Sean Neville, CEO and co-founder of Catena Labs. 'That's why we're building an AI-native financial institution that will give AI agents, and the businesses and consumers they serve, the ability to transact safely and efficiently.' Catena plans to use the new funding to accelerate the development of their AI-native FI and its underlying technology. Key investors expressed confidence in the company's approach to enabling the AI economy. "The rise of AI agents is reshaping what's possible in online commerce, making it clear that we need a financial layer built specifically for how these systems operate—one that can handle authentication, payments, and trust at scale,' said Chris Dixon, founder and managing partner, a16z crypto. 'Sean and the Catena team have the expertise to meet that challenge. They're building financial infrastructure that agentic commerce can depend on, and we're excited to support their vision." 'I've been very fortunate to have worked closely with Sean since co-leading Circle's Series A in 2013 and have seen firsthand his rare combination of deep expertise in payments, fintech, AI, and stablecoins. He's uniquely qualified to lead the creation of the first AI-native bank,' said Jim Breyer, founder and CEO of Breyer Capital. 'Integrating AI into commerce demands a rebuild of financial infrastructure. Legacy systems cannot always keep up — and that's why Catena is so compelling.' As Catena works toward its vision for AI financial services, the company is building upon protocols, patterns, emerging standards, and open source components to address new requirements AI agents create for identity and payments. Today, the company released the open source Agent Commerce Kit (ACK), which defines several of these open source building blocks. The company is building on ACK and other emerging standards to offer a broad suite of licensed financial services addressing new risk, security, and compliance challenges that arise from AI systems working as independent economic actors. 'Today's financial infrastructure creates significant friction for AI agents, with slow, fragile, and expensive legacy payment rails constraining the potential for AI commerce,' said Matt Venables, CTO and co-founder of Catena Labs. 'While we are integrating existing payment networks as we bridge into the future, we're focused on transforming how money moves in the AI economy by using regulated stablecoins that offer near-instant settlement, minimal transaction costs, and easy integration with AI workflows.' About Catena Labs Catena Labs is building a regulated financial institution designed for the AI era. The company is developing new financial infrastructure and services to enable AI agents, businesses, and consumers to participate safely and efficiently in the growing AI-driven economy. Catena is actively seeking collaboration with developers, businesses, and partners involved in the AI space.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Work begins on sandpit despite planning refusal
Work to build a large children's sandpit and recreation area in a field in West Sussex has begun, despite planning permission being refused. Chris Dixon applied to build a 25m/sq sandpit, "tumble down mound", boules pitch and bar area on land off Marine Drive, Goring, however his bid was rejected. But Mr Dixon confirmed in an online statement that he had begun building the project anyway, and that there would "soon be 23 flag poles proudly waving the Union Jack". A spokesperson for Worthing Borough Council said it was waiting for further information about the works before taking any action. "We've been made aware of the activity and have written to the landowner for clarification about what he is doing there," they said. "We will then consider whether any enforcement action is necessary." Mr Dixon's company, Goring Gap Limited, announced plans last year to create a "fenced family entertainment area" focused around the sandpit. The scheme also includes concessions for vendors selling food, drinks, snacks and sweets from gazebos and trailers, as well as a bar for alcohol. It would also feature toilets and car parking facilities. The council previously said it rejected the application because it had not received enough information from Mr Dixon to prove that the "use and operations described in the application would be or are lawful". "The proposed leisure related uses would involve a material change of use of the land, which was previously agricultural, and the associated works would be operational development," the added. The council said this believed such a development would be unlawful under Section 55 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. On 15 May, Mr Dixon posted to his website: "Work has begun on the children's sandpit, tumble down mound, boules and bar area. "There will soon be 23 flag poles proudly waiving the Union Jack, Worthing and Sussex colours." The BBC has contacted Mr Dixon for comment. Follow BBC Sussex on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@ or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250. New cancer centre approved at Brighton hospital Plans deferred for new homes in village Worthing Borough Council
BBC News
16-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Goring sandpit build begins despite planning permission refusal
Work to build a large children's sandpit and recreation area in a field in West Sussex has begun, despite planning permission being Dixon applied to build a 25m/sq sandpit, "tumble down mound", boules pitch and bar area on land off Marine Drive, Goring, however his bid was Mr Dixon confirmed in an online statement that he had begun building the project anyway, and that there would "soon be 23 flag poles proudly waving the Union Jack".A spokesperson for Worthing Borough Council said it was waiting for further information about the works before taking any action. "We've been made aware of the activity and have written to the landowner for clarification about what he is doing there," they said."We will then consider whether any enforcement action is necessary."Mr Dixon's company, Goring Gap Limited, announced plans last year to create a "fenced family entertainment area" focused around the scheme also includes concessions for vendors selling food, drinks, snacks and sweets from gazebos and trailers, as well as a bar for would also feature toilets and car parking council previously said it rejected the application because it had not received enough information from Mr Dixon to prove that the "use and operations described in the application would be or are lawful"."The proposed leisure related uses would involve a material change of use of the land, which was previously agricultural, and the associated works would be operational development," the council said this believed such a development would be unlawful under Section 55 of the Town and Country Planning Act 15 May, Mr Dixon posted to his website: "Work has begun on the children's sandpit, tumble down mound, boules and bar area."There will soon be 23 flag poles proudly waiving the Union Jack, Worthing and Sussex colours."The BBC has contacted Mr Dixon for comment.
