Lightyear closes an $8.5 mn funding round and launches its app in the UK

By Joy Dumasia

Lightyear announced an additional $8.5 mn of funding alongside the launch of its app as the company started to onboard UK customers from its waiting list. Lightyear combines multi-currency accounts with unlimited access to global markets so customers can invest freely without hidden fees.

The new investment platform seeks to eradicate the ambiguity, and unjustifiable fees levied on retail investors. With platforms charging different fees at varying customer journey points, they leave little clarity around the true cost of an investment. Lightyear is on a mission to flip this pricing model on its head by giving customers the tools to add, hold and invest money in multiple currencies, removing the need for conversions.

Lightyear was founded by early Wise alumni Martin Sokk and Mihkel Aamer and pledged to bring a global mindset into the European investment space. Traditionally, if European investors wanted access to international markets, they have been hit with various fees such as transaction and custody fees, most notably foreign exchange fees.

Mosaic Ventures led the new $8.5 mn funding alongside existing investors Taavet+Sten (Taavet Hinrikus and Sten Tamkivi) and Metaplanet. New angel investors coming in this time include early Monzo backer Eileen Burbidge, Harsh Sinha, the CTO at Wise and Taavi Tamkivi, the CEO at Salv.

Martin Sokk, Co-founder and CEO at Lightyear, said: “10 months ago Lightyear was just an idea, so we’re really excited to have raised a total of $10 million, hired a world-class team and to be launching the first iteration of our app. There are more people in Europe investing now than ever before, but there’s still a very long way to go. Our goal is to give all of Europe access to the world’s markets without hidden fees and to make investing cognitively easy. We’re excited to have such a strong group of investors that share this vision with us.”