Lightyear Raises $23 Million, Introduces AI Features to Revolutionize European Investing

Estonia's tech elite are getting behind a European challenger to Robinhood

Lightyear also debuted several AI features, including one that lets users see what caused a jump or fall in a stock's price on any given day. Some of the biggest names of Estonia's tech scene are backing Lightyear, a startup looking to become Europe's answer to commission-free trading pioneer Robinhood. Based in London, Lightyear develops an app that lets users invest in a range of over 5,000 stocks, exchange-traded funds and money market funds. It was founded by two former Wise employees, Martin Sokk and Mihkel Aamer, in 2021. The company is set to announce later on Thursday that it has raised $23 million in a new round of funding led by NordicNinja, a Japanese-backed venture capital fund based in Europe. Estonian tech entrepreneur Markus Villig, who co-founded ride-hailing unicorn Bolt has also invested. Lightyear CEO Sokk told CNBC that the firm didn't necessarily need to raise more cash for the business but chose to do so because of the caliber of investors involved. "People like Markus have been building massive companies in many, many markets, and this is something that's really exciting for us because it's so hard to go into all the markets and understand their local dynamics and what people need," he said. Lightyear currently operates in 25 countries. However, with help from angel investors like Bolt's Villig, the firm will be able to launch in another five markets "pretty quickly," Sokk said. Villig told CNBC that it can be "challenging to scale a business across multiple countries in a heavily regulated sector," adding that Europe's less developed retail investing market provides ample opportunities for disruption. Other Estonian angel investors who have previously backed Lightyear also participated in the funding round, including Wise co-founder Taavet Hinrikus, Checkout.com's former Chief Technology Officer Ott Kaukver and Skype founding engineer Jaan Tallinn. Estonia is widely considered a prominent tech hub in Europe. The country is home to the highest number of unicorns per capita in Europe, according to the Estonian Investment Agency. Meanwhile, Estonia's e-residency scheme has also enabled foreigners to become digital residents and launch their companies in the country. The new round values five-year-old Lightyear at between $200 million and $300 million, significantly higher than its valuation in 2022 when it raised $25 million, according to two people familiar with the matter who preferred to remain anonymous as the information has not been made public.

Lightyear eyes AI opportunity on $28 million fund raise

This content has been selected, created and edited by the Finextra editorial team based upon its relevance and interest to our community. The new financing was led by European-Japanese venture capital firm NordicNinja, alongside Superangel, SpecialistVC and previous investors. The funds will be used to launch Lightyear AI, a new suite of products offering up-to-date market insights and coincides with the platform achieving $1bn in customer assets. The funding round comes as Lightyear expands into three new markets of Sweden, Denmark and Bulgaria and releases new features that break open access to expert analysis and financial news, summarised in the context of a user's portfolio and what they're looking at. The new 'Why Did It Move' feature allows users to tap on a historical point in time on an instrument chart and see a summary of what happened for the spike or dip. An interactive 'Bulls Say, Bears Say' tool analyses hundreds of trusted sources, building a case both for and against an instrument. Finally, 'Lightning Updates' gives users bite-sized updates on the instruments a user holds or watches, the macro climate, and market sentiment. Next up, Lightyear plans to further evolve its AI arm to bring broad wealth management capabilities into the hands of retail investors. Having raised $58 million to date, the firm - which was founded by two early Wise employees - continues to welcome notable angel investors, such as Wise's Taavet Hinrikus, Checkout.com's Ott Kaukver and Skype's Jaan Tallinn. New in this Series B round, Lightyear welcomes Bolt's founder and CEO, Markus Villig. Martin Sokk, CEO and co-founder of Lightyear, says: "This Series B round is a huge vote of confidence in the untapped potential of investing in Europe. Driving meaningful progress in this market means removing barriers to entry and demystifying investing for ordinary people, and that's why we feel so strongly about our vision for AI and the future of investing."