Wise, Teleport co-founders back new European investing app in $1.5m pre-seed

UK commission-free stock trading app Lightyear has raised $1.5m from a pre-seed funding round.

The round was led by Wise co-founder Taavet Hinrikus and Teleport co-founder Sten Tamkivi.

Lightyear itself was founded by Martin Sokk and Mihkel Aamer, two former employers of the FinTech giant Wise, and has employees who previously worked for companies like Revolut and Robinhood.

Formed in 2020, Lightyear is looking to reduce the obstructions to investing by offering no trading, account or FX fees up to £3000 per month. After breaking this barrier, investors will be charged a slight 0.35% FX fee.

The company waiting list is now open and it intends to start rolling out its business in the third quarter of 2021. It claims it will be launching with unlimited access to over 1,500 global stocks and exchange-traded funds.

Sokk said, “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.”

Hinrikus added, “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.”

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