TL;DR
- Lighter raised $68 million in a funding round led by Founders Fund and Ribbit Capital, reaching a $1.5 billion valuation.
- The firm operates an Ethereum Layer 2 network with a decentralized exchange for perpetual contracts and plans to add spot trading, offering instant settlements and on-chain auditability.
- Lighter aims to build a verifiable financial infrastructure layer and expand into institutional-grade products.
Lighter closes a $68 million round at a $1.5 billion valuation, backed by Founders Fund, Ribbit Capital, Haun Ventures, and Robinhood.
The startup combines an Ethereum Layer 2 network with a decentralized exchange to trade perpetual contracts and, soon, spot trading, focusing on speed, transparency, and full autonomy.
The project was founded in 2022 by Vladimir Novakovski. Its goal is to create a verifiable and auditable on-chain financial infrastructure layer. The protocol uses a high-performance matching engine and instant settlements to deliver a centralized-exchange-like experience without intermediaries. Its proprietary Layer 2 infrastructure reduces gas fees and ensures full traceability of all operations.
Lighter Reports Operational Profitability
The round includes equity stakes and allocations of the future Lighter token, bringing the company’s total funds raised to nearly $90 million. According to L2BEAT data, the network is already among the top Ethereum Layer 2s by total value locked, and the company claims to have achieved operational profitability.
The boom in perpetual derivatives trading explains the rising interest and venture capital inflow. In October 2025, perpetual contracts accounted for 75% of total volume on centralized exchanges, with $49 trillion traded. On DEXs, these instruments now surpass 56% of total volume, reaching a record $1.2 trillion in October. The growth of platforms like Hyperliquid and Lighter’s entry positions perps as the main liquidity engine in the crypto market.
A Verification Layer for Finance
Novakovski aims to make Lighter the infrastructure that ensures decentralized finance operates fairly, accurately, and transparently. “We want to be the layer that verifies everything happening in finance occurs correctly,” the CEO explained.
With the newly secured funding, Lighter plans to expand its infrastructure to spot trading and launch advanced risk management and institutional liquidity features.
