Wealthtech

Commission-free investing app Lightyear raises $1.5 million

Investment platform Lightyear has secured $1.5 million in a pre-seed funding round, Finextra reports.

The round was led by Wise co-founder Taavet Hinrikus and Teleport co-founder Sten Tamkivi as part of its first portfolio investment of their partnership that invests in early-stage European startups.

Jason Tallinn, co-founder of Skype, Checkout.com CTO Ott Kaukver, Wander Rutgers and Kaarel Kotkas also joined the funding round as investors, TechCrunch reported.

European company Lightyear expects to roll out its platform in the third quarter of 2021, and aims to give unlimited access to global markets without hidden fees or charges, Finextra reports.

The company’s waiting list is officially open, and its founders, which are two early Wise employees, have promised to become Europe’s first “truly” commission-free investing platform. Lightyear will also eventually offer an MVP product that will have no trading fees and no accounts fees with access up to 1,500 global stocks and ETFs. In addition, there will be no FX fees up to £3000 per month with a 0.35% FX fee afterwards.

Lightyear Founder Martin Sokk said both he and Co-Founder Mihkel Aamer will use their Wise experience in currency conversion to “completely change the name of the game when it comes to investing.” Wise, formerly known as TransferWise, provides global money transfer services which allows individuals and businesses to send money overseas.

Lightyear will be competing with a number of other startups in the European market, such as Freetrade in the UK or Germany-based Trade Republic, which recently raised $900 million.

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