We back founders who are reimagining the world. We invest $1-10m early, in those building daring adventures across Europe.  Our partners have worked in leading Silicon Valley startups since the dawn of the Internet and have collectively amassed over 50 years in tech on both sides of the Atlantic. We are a small team of investors and startup operators who typically make just a small number of new investments per year, so every relationship matters. We appreciate that success is not built overnight; we are in it for the long haul. We are humble, curious, open and straightforward — having learned from both mistakes and successes. Read about our thesis-driven approach to investing and what you can expect when working with us on our website.

Mosaic Ventures

Metaplanet Holdings is an early-stage investment firm that invests in diversified sectors. They support novel and evidence-based innovations that could produce an outsized return for the benefit of humankind. The firm specializes in the fields of business development, venture capital, and financial services.

Metaplanet

Lightspeed Venture Partners is a venture capital firm that engages in consumer, enterprise, technology, and cleantech markets. It focuses on seed, early-stage, later-stage, expansion-stage, start-ups, growth companies, and incubation, and specializes in debt financing for start-ups and growth companies. Lightspeed Venture Partners invests in various sectors that include enterprise, consumer, big data, bitcoin, enterprise technology, cleantech, mobile, internet, financial technology, cloud solutions, e-commerce, storage, media, networking, energy, and software, software-as-a-service, information technology, biotechnology, and social.

Lightspeed Venture Partners

Virgin is a international investment group and one of the world's most recognised and respected brands.

Virgin Group

Taavet+Sten is a venture capital fund that primarily invests in early-stage European founders. Taavet+Sten is a partnership of founders backing founders with their own personal capital and analytical diligence.

Taavet+Sten

Lightyear

Lightyear is a simple and approachable way to invest your money globally without unnecessary barriers and fees.

Lightyear is a UK-based investing platform that offers access to exchange-traded funds, FX trading, and both fractional and full US and European stocks for retail investors without any associated trading and custody fees.

Retail investors demanding sophisticated passive investment strategies are looking for an edge.

Retail Trading Infrastructure

Investment Platform Lightyear to Relaunch in the UK with Direct FCA Authorization

Lightyear is a UK-based investing platform that offers access to exchange-traded funds, FX trading, and both fractional and full US and European stocks for retail investors without any associated trading and custody fees.The platform charges for specific services such as trading US shares (0.1% up to USD 1 max), EU shares (EUR 1 per order), and UK shares (GBP 1 per order). Currency conversion is charged at 0.35% using the live interbank exchange rate. Many services are free, including ETF trading, multi-currency accounts, and securities custody. Lightyear also offers interest on uninvested cash, with rates of 3.00% APY net for GBP and USD and 2.00% APY net for EUR. It provides higher interest rates through its Savings feature (BlackRock MMFs), offering up to 5.07% APY net for GBP, 5.00% APY net for USD, and 3.55% APY net for EUR.The platform was launched in the UK in 2021 and has expanded into Austria, Germany, France, Spain, and 15 other European countries (as of July 2022).

Ellevest is a hybrid investment management platform that specifically targets women, with an algorithm that takes into account gender-specific factors such as career breaks, longer life expectancy, and income differences.Ellevest offers a single plan at USD 12 per month. This plan includes investing and educational resources as well as up to 50% off all financial planning sessions. Unlike some investing companies that charge separate advisory fees based on a percentage of invested assets, Ellevest incorporates investment advice into the plan fee. For clients with USD 1 million or more to invest, Ellevest provides Private Wealth Management services with fees based on total assets under management, covering both financial planning and investment management. The company's investment portfolios incur fund fees or expense ratios, which are built into the purchase price of investments. For Ellevest core (non-Impact) portfolios, ETF fund fees range from 0.05% to 0.10% per year, while Ellevest Impact Portfolios have ETF and mutual fund fees ranging from 0.13% to 0.19% per year.Ellevest reported assets under management (AUM) of USD 2 billion as of March 2024.

Ellevest

ComposedPro is a digital investment advisor that handles clients’ investment accounts at their employers (such as employer-sponsored accounts) as well as private investment accounts, focusing on low cost Employer-Coordinated Portfolios. The company oversees USD 25 million in total assets over 181 customer accounts as of the company’s Q2 2020 filing. ComposedPro manages half of the company’s accounts on a discretionary basis, meaning an investment advisor has the discretion to make buy and sell decisions for a client’s account. ComposedPro also has 46 non-discretionary accounts totalling USD 7.9 million in assets. The average investment account size is USD 138,222 placed across exchangeable assets such as exchange-traded funds (ETFs), equities, bonds, and options.

ComposedPro

Guideline provides automated investment management services for employer-sponsored retirement accounts. The services also include plan set-up and administration, enrollment and education, recordkeeping, compliance with Retirement Income Security Act, and reporting.The company stated that it is the only provider that does not charge plan participants (i.e. employees) with any fees. Guideline charges the employers with a straightforward pricing of one flat fee per participant, in contrast to the asset-based fee model predominant in the industry (i.e. fee is charged on account balances).Guideline offers three subscription tiers for a 401(k) plan service: Starter, Core, and Enterprise. The Starter plan costs USD 39/month plus USD 4/month per active participant, offering basic features with a USD 6,000 employee contribution limit. The Core plan, priced at USD 89/month plus USD 8/month per active participant, provides more robust features including a USD 23,000 employee contribution limit, Safe Harbor or Traditional 401(k) options, employer contributions, and profit-sharing capabilities. The Enterprise plan, at USD 149/month, offers the most customization with exclusive pricing options, premium support, and access to Participant Perks. The higher tiers incrementally add features such as flexible plan design, vesting schedules, 401(k) loans, and support for plan transfers. All plans include basic administration services, while the Enterprise tier provides additional benefits like dedicated support, priority assistance, and exclusive pricing options.Key customers and partnershipsAs of August 2024, the company had invested USD 15 billion dollars for retirements.

Guideline

Based in Plano, Texas, AssetBuilder is a robo-advisory company that develops investment portfolios based on the Fama/French school of thought, using low-cost active index funds. It has Dimensional Fund Advisors (the eighth largest fund company in the world as of September 2019) as its funding partner. Human advisors are available to provide investing guidance. As of April 2019, the firm’s assets under management (AUM) amounted to USD 765.9 million. The firm’s business model relies on a fee-only structure, meaning a customer solely pays AssetBuilder to create and manage investments (the company does not receive product-specific commission). The minimum investment for AssetBuilder is USD 50,000 with an asset management fee ranging from 0.24% to 0.45%; the higher the investment, the lower the fee. Though the firm does not have a setup fee, it requires a custodial cost for setting up a portfolio of USD 11.95 per trade for each recommended mutual fund. Most of the platform’s portfolios require about 11 to 14 mutual funds, costing about USD 131.45 to USD 167.30 to open an account.

AssetBuilder

Based in Canada, Smart Money Invest provides portfolio management services to individual clients, advisors, and employers (such as group saving plans for retirement). Human advisors are available to serve individual investors.The company provides financial tools to develop a long-term financial strategy by calculating net worth, setting a budget, managing investment accounts, and planning for retirement.

Smart Money Invest

Robo advisory startups that offer automated investment services directly to individuals solely via digital platforms.

Robo advisory startups that offer automated investment services to individuals via both digital platforms and human financial advisors.

Provide solutions for financial advisors/asset managers to automate wealth management and administration functions.

Robo advisory startups that offer automated investment services to businesses via both digital platforms and human financial advisors.

Provides solutions for financial institutions to set up their own robo-advisory function and offer services to clients.

Startups that offer online platforms for investors to trade various securities such as stocks, ETFs, and options directly via the platform

Operates a B2B SaaS model to support financial institution in offering various investment related services

Leverages AI/ML to automate allocation and management of investment funds to cater to retail investors

Lightyear

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