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The FinTech scene Estonia is famous for producing pan-European challengers. Founded in 2021 by former Wise employees Martin Sokk and Mihkel Aamer, Lightyear provides access to over 5,000 stocks, exchange-traded funds, and money market funds across global financial markets.
Today this Estonian-founded, London-based startup has raised $23 million in Series B funding led by NordicNinja, the largest Japanese-backed venture capital fund in Europe. The funding round will support the company’s UK retail investment expansion and the development of AI-driven tools. Per CNBC, the company could be valued at $200-300M.
The round includes participation from existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners, Metaplanet, and Skaala, alongside new investors Superangel and SpecialistVC. Notable angel investors from Europe’s technology sector have also contributed, including Wise co-founder Taavet Hinrikus, Checkout.com’s former CTO Ott Kaukver, and Skype founding engineer Jaan Tallinn. Bolt CEO and founder Markus Villig joins as a new angel investor in this round.
Coinciding with the funding announcement, Lightyear has launched operations in three additional markets: Sweden, Denmark, and Bulgaria. It now covers 25 countries across Europe and reaches $1 billion in customer assets under management, since the company emerged from stealth mode in 2021.
The funding will support the launch of several AI-powered market intelligence tools as part of Lightyear’s broader artificial intelligence strategy. The new features aim to democratise access to financial analysis typically restricted behind subscription paywalls.
The platform introduces three key AI features:
- “Why Did It Move”: Users can select any historical point on an investment chart to receive a summary of market events that caused price movements.
- “Bulls Say, Bears Say”: An interactive tool that analyses hundreds of sources to present both positive and negative investment cases for specific instruments.
- “Lightning Updates”: Personalised, concise updates on holdings, market climate, and sentiment tailored to user portfolios.
Martin Sokk, CEO and co-founder of Lightyear, says that the funding represents “a huge vote of confidence in the untapped potential of investing in Europe.”
“It can be challenging to scale a business across multiple countries in a heavily regulated sector. So it takes a talented and fast-moving team with a laser focus to build a product that is helping Europeans grow their wealth, with a great user experience. I’m excited to back Martin and Mihkel on their mission to disrupt that market,” said Markus Villig, CEO and founder of Bolt.
