Wallets/lightyear
Lightyear
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Overview
Lightyear is Estonian-founded neobroker by ex-Wise founders Martin Sokk + Mihkel Aamer + 25 countries + $1B+ customer assets Jul 2025 + $23M Series B Jul 2025 + Richard Branson investor [1, 2, ee-cro]. 2025 baseline: Lightyear $1B+ customer assets + $23M Series B funding Jul 2025 + 25 countries; Estonian-founded neobroker by ex-Wise founders Martin Sokk + Mihkel Aamer distinctive Estonian fintech ex-Wise heritage; 6,000+ stocks + ETFs + MMFs distinctive European neobroker offering breadth.
Distinctive Lightyear positioning:
- Estonian-founded neobroker by ex-Wise founders Martin Sokk + Mihkel Aamer distinctive Estonian fintech ex-Wise heritage
- 25 countries distinctive European neobroker geographic coverage
- $1B+ customer assets Jul 2025 distinctive European neobroker scale
- $23M Series B Jul 2025 distinctive European neobroker funding
- Richard Branson investor distinctive European neobroker celebrity backer
- 6,000+ stocks + ETFs + MMFs distinctive European neobroker offering breadth
- 2021 Lightyear founding by Martin Sokk + Mihkel Aamer in Tallinn distinctive Estonian fintech post-Wise founding
- FCA UK + EFSA Estonia licensed distinctive European neobroker dual-licensing
History
2021 — Lightyear founded by Martin Sokk + Mihkel Aamer (both ex-Wise) in Tallinn as Estonian European neobroker.
2024 — Lightyear available in Ireland distinctive European geographic expansion.
Jul 24 2025 — Lightyear raises $23M Series B funding + surpasses $1B in customer assets post-CNBC coverage [2, 3].
2025 — Lightyear operates in 25 countries [1].
Ownership & operator
Operating entity: Lightyear Financial Ltd. (Estonian-founded neobroker; FCA UK + EFSA Estonia licensed; Tallinn HQ).
Major shareholders: Martin Sokk (co-founder + CEO) + Mihkel Aamer (co-founder) + Richard Branson (Virgin Group founder) + Estonian + European angel + VC investors + $23M Series B Jul 2025.
Regulators: FCA (Financial Conduct Authority UK) + EFSA (Estonian Financial Supervision and Resolution Authority).
Technical integration
Lightyear mobile app (iOS + Android; $1B+ customer assets Jul 2025; 25 countries) + lightyear.com online; SEPA + SEPA Instant + Faster Payments GB; 6,000+ stocks + ETFs + MMFs (Money Market Funds) distinctive European neobroker offering breadth + commission-free + fractional shares + multi-currency accounts distinctive European neobroker model.
Users & growth
Jul 2025: Lightyear $1B+ customer assets + 25 countries.
Use cases
European retail + private + investing + commission-free trading + 6,000+ stocks + ETFs + MMFs (Money Market Funds) via Lightyear mobile + lightyear.com online; SEPA + SEPA Instant + Faster Payments GB; 6,000+ stocks + ETFs + MMFs (Money Market Funds) distinctive European neobroker offering breadth + commission-free + fractional shares + multi-currency accounts distinctive European neobroker model.
Implementations & partners
Operator: Lightyear Financial Ltd. (Estonian-founded neobroker; FCA UK + EFSA Estonia licensed; Tallinn HQ); Martin Sokk (co-founder + CEO) + Mihkel Aamer (co-founder) + Richard Branson (Virgin Group founder) + Estonian + European angel + VC investors + $23M Series B Jul 2025.
Major European neobroker + investment app competitors: [[trade-republic]] (Europe's largest neobroker by users; 10M+ users in 18 European countries; €150B+ AUM; €12.5B valuation post-Dec 2025 secondary share sale) + [[scalable-capital]] (German digital wealth manager + neobroker; Munich; €27B+ AUM 2024) + [[etoro]] (Israeli social trading + crypto investment; ETOR NASDAQ post-May 14 2025 IPO; 30M+ registered users in 75+ countries) + [[robinhood]] (US commission-free trading + crypto; NASDAQ: HOOD; 23.9M+ funded customers Q3 2025) + [[freetrade]] (UK commission-free trading; IG Group ~£160M acquisition Apr 2025) + [[bux-zero]] (Dutch commission-free trading; BlackRock + ABN AMRO investors) + [[degiro]] (Dutch FlatexDEGIRO; European discount broker; FlatexDEGIRO Bank AG full German banking license).
Regulators: FCA + EFSA.
Fun facts
- Estonian-founded neobroker by ex-Wise founders Martin Sokk + Mihkel Aamer distinctive Estonian fintech ex-Wise heritage.
- 25 countries distinctive European neobroker geographic coverage.
- $1B+ customer assets Jul 2025 distinctive European neobroker scale.
- $23M Series B Jul 2025 distinctive European neobroker funding.
- Richard Branson investor distinctive European neobroker celebrity backer.
- 6,000+ stocks + ETFs + MMFs distinctive European neobroker offering breadth.
- 2021 Lightyear founding by Martin Sokk + Mihkel Aamer in Tallinn distinctive Estonian fintech post-Wise founding.
- FCA UK + EFSA Estonia licensed distinctive European neobroker dual-licensing.
Comparison
| Feature | Lightyear | [[trade-republic]] (Europe's largest neobroker by users rival; 10M+ users in 18 European countries; €150B+ AUM) | [[scalable-capital]] (German digital wealth manager + neobroker rival; Munich; €27B+ AUM 2024) | [[etoro]] (Israeli social trading + crypto investment rival; 30M+ registered users in 75+ countries) | [[degiro]] (Dutch FlatexDEGIRO rival; European discount broker) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | Lightyear Financial Ltd. (Estonian-founded neobroker; FCA UK + EFSA Estonia licensed; Tallinn HQ) | Trade Republic Bank GmbH (BaFin-licensed German broker-bank; €12.5B valuation post-Dec 2025 secondary share sale) | Scalable Capital GmbH (BaFin-licensed German digital wealth manager + neobroker; Munich; BlackRock + Tencent + HV Holtzbrinck Ventures + Tengelmann + others investors) | eToro Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: ETOR post-May 14 2025 IPO) | FlatexDEGIRO AG (FRA: FTK; FlatexDEGIRO Bank AG full German banking license) |
| Type | Estonian-founded neobroker by ex-Wise founders Martin Sokk + Mihkel Aamer + 25 countries + $1B+ customer assets Jul 2025 + $23M Series B Jul 2025 + Richard Branson investor + 6,000+ stocks + ETFs + MMFs + commission-free + fractional shares + multi-currency accounts | Europe's largest neobroker by users + 10M+ users in 18 European countries + €150B+ AUM + €12.5B valuation post-Dec 2025 €1.2B secondary share sale + 70% first-time investors | German digital wealth manager + neobroker + Munich + €27B+ AUM 2024 + BlackRock + Tencent + HV Holtzbrinck Ventures + Tengelmann + others investors + First digital investment platform to offer BlackRock private equity solution | Israeli social trading + crypto investment + 30M+ registered users in 75+ countries + ETOR NASDAQ post-May 14 2025 IPO | Dutch FlatexDEGIRO + European discount broker + FlatexDEGIRO Bank AG full German banking license |
| Country | 25 countries (EE + GB + DE + FR + IT + ES + NL + BE + IE + FI + PT + AT + LU + PL + SE + NO + DK + GR + SK + EL + LT + LV + SI + MT + CY) | DE + FR + IT + ES + NL + AT + BE + IE + LU + PT + FI + GR + SK + EE + LT + LV + SI + PL (18 countries) | DE + AT + FR + IT + ES + NL | 75+ countries | DE + NL + ES + FR + IT + others |
| Distinctive | 2021 Lightyear founding by Martin Sokk + Mihkel Aamer (both ex-Wise) in Tallinn; 2024 Ireland availability; Jul 24 2025 $23M Series B funding + $1B+ customer assets; Richard Branson investor distinctive European neobroker celebrity backer | 2015 Trade Republic founding by Christian Hecker + Thomas Pischke + Marco Cancellieri in Berlin; 2019 Trade Republic mobile app launch; Sep 2025 Poland launch (first market outside eurozone; 18 countries total); Dec 2025 €1.2B secondary share sale at €12.5B valuation | 2014 Scalable Capital founding by Erik Podzuweit + Florian Prucker + Patrick Pöschl + Adam French in Munich; 2019 BaFin license + neobroker pivot from digital wealth manager; 2025 BlackRock private equity offering launch via Scalable Broker | 2007 eToro founding in Tel Aviv; May 14 2025 NASDAQ ETOR IPO; CopyTrader social trading distinctive | 2008 DEGIRO founding in Amsterdam; 2020 FlatexDEGIRO merger |
Status
Active, Estonian-founded neobroker by ex-Wise founders Martin Sokk + Mihkel Aamer + 25 countries + $1B+ customer assets Jul 2025 + $23M Series B Jul 2025 + Richard Branson investor [1, 2, 3]:
- Lightyear Financial Ltd. (Estonian-founded neobroker; FCA UK + EFSA Estonia licensed; Tallinn HQ) since 2021 Lightyear founding by Martin Sokk + Mihkel Aamer (both ex-Wise) in Tallinn + 2024 Ireland availability + Jul 24 2025 $23M Series B funding + $1B+ customer assets.
- Lightyear $1B+ customer assets + 25 countries.
- FCA + EFSA regulated.
Sources
- 1 Lightyear: Investing app with 6000 stocks, ETFs & MMFs — Lightyear
- 2 Estonia's tech elite are getting behind a European challenger to Robinhood — CNBC
- 3 Estonian-founded investment app Lightyear raises $23M for AI expansion in Europe — Estonian World
- ee-cro In-corpus:
reports/countries/EE-estonia.md
Source
Biography extracted from lightyear.md. See matrix.md for standards-support matrix if present.