Lightyear secures direct FCA authorisation, set to relaunch in the UK
Investment platform Lightyear is set to relaunch in the UK having received direct authorisation from the country’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) earlier this year.
Lightyear received direct authorisation from the FCA earlier this year
The London-based firm has been operating in the UK as an appointed representative of FCA-regulated RiskSave Technologies. Now the firm has secured direct authorisation from the FCA, Lightyear says it will relaunch in the country under the trading name Lightyear UK, with plans to roll out “a number of new products”.
These new products are to include individual savings accounts (ISAs), which the company says are set to launch “in time for the end of this tax year”.
Lightyear adds that it has been “gradually building out a strong UK team” in preparation for the relaunch, which includes the promotion of COO Wander Rutgers to UK CEO.
“We’re building an investment platform that people will trust with their long term wealth,” Rutgers says. “We’re targeting the same customers that use platforms like Hargreaves Lansdown, but we’re not charging the massive fees, or making the experience really clunky.”
Founded in 2021 by ex-Wise duo Martin Sokk and Mihkel Aamer, Lightyear also serves as an investment broker in 21 other markets across the EU and EEA through its Lightyear Europe AS division.
The firm secured the backing of Mosaic Ventures, Metaplanet and Taavet+Sten through an $8.5 million seed round closed in 2021, before later picking up Virgin Group as an investor during a Lightspeed Venture Partners-led $25 million Series A the following year.
