DeFi founder and Harvard grad raises $68M for Lighter

The funding round included equity and token warrants tied to a yet-to-launch cryptocurrency, founder Vlad Novakovski said. He declined to discuss valuation, but sources put it at around $1.5 billion. Lighter also plans to add spot trading for assets like Bitcoin.

Lighter functions as both a decentralized exchange and its own blockchain, with settlements processed on an Ethereum layer 2 for trading perpetual futures.

Novakovski described Lighter’s goal as building an infrastructure layer that ensures financial activity is fair, accurate, and transparent.

Lighter is currently the leading DeFi platform for perpetual trading, with a 24-hour volume of over $10.6 billion, ahead of Hyperliquid and Aster, according to DefiLlama. Interest in perpetuals is growing as new decentralized exchanges challenge traditional trading hubs. Hyperliquid has gained volume with its own blockchain, while Binance backs a rival project called Aster. Lighter’s model stands out by using a dedicated Ethereum layer 2 instead of a separate chain. Data from L2BEAT ranks it among the larger Ethereum layer-2 networks by total deposits.

Founders Fund joined the round, with partner Joey Krug citing “Vlad and the team that he’s built” as a key reason for investing.

Lighter launched in January after nearly two years of development and testing. The next step is expanding into spot trading beyond perpetuals. The platform is designed to operate without central control and verify trades directly on-chain.

Perpetual futures remain popular in crypto because traders can maintain leveraged positions without rolling contracts. Trading activity has grown as decentralized platforms lower costs and deepen liquidity. Lighter enters a market dominated by large, well-funded exchanges.

The company has not said when it will release the token linked to the warrants or revealed its full investor list. Its current priorities include adding more products and improving settlement systems to support higher volumes.

Lighter evolved from Lunchclub, an AI networking startup co-founded by Novakovski in 2017. In 2024, it raised $21 million led by Haun Ventures and Craft Ventures, with backing from Dragonfly and Robot Ventures. The latest $68 million round brings total funding close to $90 million.