TechFlow news, November 11 — According to Fortune, Lighter, a cryptocurrency trading platform founded by Harvard prodigy Vladimir Novakovski, has announced a $68 million funding round at a valuation of approximately $1.5 billion. The round was co-led by Peter Thiel's Founders Fund and Ribbit Capital, with participation from prominent firms including Haun Ventures and Robinhood.
Lighter is a decentralized exchange and blockchain platform primarily offering perpetual futures trading for cryptocurrencies, with spot trading for tokens such as Bitcoin set to launch soon. Built on Ethereum Layer 2 technology, the platform has become one of the leading Layer 2 blockchains in the Ethereum ecosystem by total value locked and is already profitable.
Notably, 40-year-old Novakovski entered Harvard at age 16 and, after graduating at 18, was personally recruited by Citadel CEO Ken Griffin. In 2022, he pivoted Lunchclub, an AI-powered social networking platform he previously founded, into Lighter, officially launching the product in January this year.
