Lightyear raises $23M to challenge Robinhood in Europe with AI-powered investing

Building a pan-European investment platform wasn’t supposed to work. Too many languages, too many regulations, too many tax codes. But just a few years after launch, Lightyear has proven the skeptics wrong—and now it’s raised another $23 million to keep going.

The London-based startup, founded in 2021 by Estonian entrepreneurs and Wise alumni Martin Sokk (CEO and co-founder) and Mihkel Aamer (co-founder), lets users invest in over 5,000 stocks, ETFs, and money market funds across 25 countries.

What began as a bold bet on Europe’s fragmented financial system is now a growing platform holding more than $1 billion in customer assets. Today, Lightyear announced its Series B funding round, led by NordicNinja, with participation from Superangel, Specialist VC, and a roster of high-profile angels from Estonia’s tech scene.

“We’ve just raised a $23m Series B, led by NordicNinja and backed by some of the biggest names in European business and tech, taking our total funding to date to $58m. We’re now operating in 25 countries in 10 languages. Our explosive growth also means we’ve hit the milestone of $1bn in customer assets,” Sokk wrote in a blog post.

It’s not just a cash infusion—it’s a signal that investors believe Lightyear might finally be the answer to Robinhood in Europe.

With $23M Backing From Estonia’s Tech Elite, Lightyear Aims to Disrupt European Retail Investing

Bolt founder Markus Villig, Wise co-founder Taavet Hinrikus, Checkout.com’s former CTO Ott Kaukver, and Skype founding engineer Jaan Tallinn have all backed the company. So has Lars Trunin of Wise. Sokk says the round wasn’t strictly necessary from a financial standpoint, but the strategic value of the investors made it a no-brainer.

Estonia’s tech elite aren’t the only ones backing Lightyear. In 2022, Richard Branson also invested in the company as part of a $25 million round to support its expansion into 19 new markets.

“People like Markus have been building massive companies in many, many markets, and this is something that’s really exciting for us,” he told CNBC. “It’s so hard to go into all the markets and understand their local dynamics and what people need.”

Lightyear isn’t playing the short-term speculation game that’s helped Robinhood grab headlines. Instead, the company says it’s focused on long-term investors—those who aren’t chasing meme stocks or gambling on margin. That hasn’t stopped it from building tech-forward features that appeal to modern users.

With this new round, the company is also launching a set of AI tools designed to make investing feel less opaque and more accessible. One tool, “Why Did It Move?”, gives users a simple explanation for price swings in the stocks they follow. Another feature breaks down the bull and bear cases for a stock. A third delivers short updates to help users track market sentiment and macro shifts—without the need to scroll through endless headlines or earnings transcripts. All of these are free and accessible to anyone, no subscriptions or paywalls.

Sokk argues that investors aren’t lacking products—they’re lacking context. “Retail investors are time poor. They have jobs, lives, and families of their own,” he said. “Other apps give you numbers and tickers, but no insight. We want to fix that.”

Lightyear’s progress over the past two years has been fast. Since its last raise in 2022, the company has rolled out business investment accounts across 18 countries, launched ISA wrappers for UK customers, integrated Nasdaq Baltic listings, built fractional shares for European stocks, and made high-grade money market funds from Blackrock available to everyday investors for as little as €1.

The company also lobbied for a change in Estonian law to make tax-wrapper accounts more accessible, launched in Hungary with localized tax benefits, and expanded into three new markets—Sweden, Denmark, and Bulgaria.

Now, Lightyear is eyeing even more countries, deeper localization, and better tax integration. The team sees an enormous opportunity ahead: trillions of euros still sitting idle in savings accounts across the EU and UK. That’s the real target—not just competing with Robinhood, but shifting a savings-first culture into one that invests for the long term.

Sokk says the mission isn’t just about giving people a slick app or cheaper trades. “We’re building for the long term,” he wrote. “A platform that brings low-cost, transparent, and intelligent investing to everyone. Whether you’re in Barcelona or Bucharest, Cardiff or Cannes, we want Lightyear to be your home for building meaningful wealth.”

With $58 million raised to date and momentum picking up, Lightyear may be closer than ever to making that a reality.