The pre-seed round was led by Taavet Hinrikus, Sten Tamkivi and Jaan Tallinn.
"Investing in Europe is a very long way away from where it needs to be. Professional and experienced investors have good options open to them with clear pricing and best-in-class tools, but ordinary investors don’t have that. Lightyear is going to be Europe’s first truly commission-free investment platform, and using our experience with transforming how the world approaches currency conversion, our goal is to completely change the name of the game when it comes to investing."
The funding round was led by HSBC and ING to fuel international growth.
"The retail finance market is in a period of exponential growth, expected to hit $2.5 trillion next year. This provides banks with the opportunity to increase lending revenue, diversify their portfolio and neutralise the threat from new entrants."
Channel 4 Ventures has backed the sustainable investment platform through its media for equity model.
"Purpose is at the heart of Channel 4’s vision so we’re delighted to invest in this ambitious sustainable purpose led business through our innovative media-for-equity model. Climate change is one of the biggest challenges of our time and very important to our core young audience so we’re looking forward to supporting Clim8 to help them to achieve their potential of becoming a leading provider of sustainable investments in the UK using our powerful marketing platform. We hope to support more businesses with a strong purpose led narrative in the future."
Augmentum Fintech led the £6m equity raise alongside a £20m credit facility from AshGrove Capital to fund expansion and acquisitions.
"Following our entry into the pensions market last year, and launch of the world's first net zero pension, we've been keen to bring our unique technology-led proposition to as many employees as we can, as quickly as we can. This raise has the right balance of lending and equity to enable us to do just that. We are delighted to welcome the team at WPT to our expanding family and to have the support of such experienced investors to help us continue on our journey."
The company has secured seed backing from senior executives in the asset management sector to develop its core platform.
"I know from personal experience how prohibitively costly and time-consuming it can be to build high-quality digital wealth products on top of wealth tech platforms offered by the established players. They are clunky and unsuited for the digital age. Over the last year or so of talking to the wealth management industry, it’s evident that the frustration is shared widely but alternatives are non-existent. I’m delighted that we have attracted an amazing group of investors who share our vision of harnessing the power of cutting-edge technology to increase access to high-quality financial services to the masses and I can’t wait to unveil the production-ready platform later this year."
