Lightyear secures £1.1m pre-seed funding from Taavet Hinrikus, Sten Tamkivi and Jaan Tallinn to launch its retail investment platform.
The pre-seed round was led by Taavet Hinrikus, Sten Tamkivi and Jaan Tallinn.
Lightyear operates an international investment platform providing access to global markets for retail customers across Europe. The company combines multi currency accounts with fractional share trading and artificial intelligence tools.
London-based fintech startup Lightyear has secured £1.1m in pre-seed funding to build its commission-free retail investment platform. The round was led by Taavet Hinrikus and Sten Tamkivi through their new partnership, alongside Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn via Metaplanet. Additional backing came from a cohort of angel investors including senior figures from Checkout.com, Robinhood and Veriff.
Founded by former Wise employees Martin Sokk and Mihkel Aamer, the company aims to eliminate the complex fees and hidden charges that currently burden retail investors in Europe. The fresh capital arrives as the firm opens its waiting list ahead of a planned rollout in the third quarter of 2021, featuring initial access to over 1,500 global stocks and ETFs.
From the founder
"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."
Martin Sokk
Co-founder and CEO at Lightyear
Investor perspective
"Most things in our lives are available at the tap of a button or with a good internet connection, yet access to global financial markets is still murky and expensive. The potential here to open up investing for everyone, much further than just their local markets, is very exciting. Giving everybody access to the best deal when it comes to their money is in my DNA, so I’m excited to support Lightyear on this mission."
Taavet Hinrikus
Taavet Hinrikus
Investors
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About the company
Lightyear
Lightyear provides a multi currency retail investment platform operating across European markets.