The 18-year-old Harvard graduate legend! Lighter founder secures $68 million in funding from Thiel

Lighter announces it has raised $68 million in a new funding round. Vladimir Novakovski, who graduated from Harvard at age 18, founded Lighter and serves as CEO at age 22, stated that the funding was led by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund and fintech investor Ribbit Capital.

The Legendary Journey of a Russian Immigrant to Harvard and Child Prodigy

(Source: Fortune)

Novakovski immigrated from Russia to the United States as a child and demonstrated remarkable intellectual talent. He earned a spot on the U.S. national team for International Olympiad in Informatics and Physics, two of the world’s top high school academic competitions, featuring math and science geniuses selected through rigorous national competitions. Being a dual international Olympiad medalist is extremely rare worldwide.

At 16, he entered Harvard University and graduated early, starting work at hedge fund Citadel Investment Group at just 18. Citadel is one of the world’s top quantitative hedge funds, known for its high recruitment standards and intense work culture. Novakovski said that Citadel CEO Ken Griffin personally recruited him, a rare honor even among Harvard graduates. Griffin’s direct recruitment typically targets top talent with game-changing potential.

Novakovski spent nearly 15 years working as an engineer and trader at various firms, accumulating dual expertise in technology development and financial trading. This background gave him a unique advantage in founding Lighter, as decentralized exchanges require understanding complex financial derivatives and high-performance blockchain technology. Most DeFi founders either lack financial knowledge or come from technical backgrounds unfamiliar with blockchain development, but Novakovski’s dual background enables Lighter to combine professionalism and technical excellence in product design.

Joey Krug, partner at Founders Fund, told Fortune, “Vlad and the team he built are almost the reason we invested 85% to 90% of the time.” This reveals the logic of top-tier venture capital: in early stages, the team is more important than the product. Novakovski’s resume, intelligence, and execution are the core reasons Founders Fund was willing to lead the investment in Lighter.

From AI Social Network Lunchclub to DeFi Transformation

In 2017, Novakovski co-founded his own startup, Lunchclub, with Scott Wu, who previously worked at investment firm Addepar. Lunchclub is an AI-driven social networking platform. They raised about $30 million, and during the pandemic, their product attracted users seeking new connections. Lunchclub uses AI algorithms to match users with suitable social contacts and arrange online or offline meetings. The concept became extremely popular during 2020-2021.

However, in 2022, growth stabilized. “We had three options: try to turn it into a profitable but smaller-scale business, try to find a way to make it like TikTok or Snapchat—which didn’t seem very feasible—and third, shift to other things we’re truly excited about,” Novakovski said. This honest reflection shows the traits of a mature founder: knowing when to give up and when to pivot.

Wu left Lunchclub to start AI coding startup Cognition, which is valued at $1.02 billion. Cognition’s product Devin is an AI software engineer capable of automating coding tasks, causing a buzz in AI circles. Meanwhile, Novakovski decided to return to his roots as a trader, a choice that seems like going back to the start but actually combines his 15 years of financial experience at Citadel and other firms with the entrepreneurial and product development experience gained at Lunchclub.

He pivoted Lunchclub into Lighter, retaining 80% of the team’s shares, and raised a new funding round of $21 million in 2024, led by Haun Ventures and Craft Ventures, previously unreported. Other participants included Dragonfly and Robot Ventures. With this recent funding, Lighter has raised nearly $90 million total, a significant amount in DeFi, demonstrating top-tier venture confidence in Novakovski.

Lighter’s Differentiation Strategy Against Hyperliquid

Lighter’s fundraising coincided with a boom in perpetual or perpetual contracts in crypto. These are popular derivatives allowing traders to hold futures contracts that don’t expire, provided they maintain required margin levels. Lighter is both a decentralized exchange aiming to operate without centralized control and a blockchain platform. It enables trading of perpetual futures, a derivative product allowing traders to speculate on future crypto prices. Novakovski also said that spot trading for tokens like Bitcoin will be launched soon.

While the so-called perpetual funding rates have existed for years, the recent rise of another decentralized exchange, Hyperliquid, has shaken the market. Hyperliquid’s co-founder Jeff Yan has only 11 employees but successfully challenged giants like Binance, which responded by closely integrating with its competitor Aster. Lighter is entering a highly competitive market, but Novakovski possesses the intelligence to compete effectively.

After two years of development and testing, Lighter was launched in January. Unlike Hyperliquid, which runs on its own Layer-1 blockchain, Lighter operates on its own Layer-2 on Ethereum. Novakovski pointed out this as a key difference between the two competing products. This architecture choice is strategic: Layer-2 solutions inherit Ethereum’s security and decentralization while offering higher performance and lower costs.

Core Differences Between Lighter and Hyperliquid

Technical Architecture: Lighter is an Ethereum Layer-2; Hyperliquid is an independent Layer-1 blockchain

Security Source: Lighter inherits Ethereum’s security; Hyperliquid relies on its own validator network

Interoperability: Lighter seamlessly integrates with the Ethereum ecosystem; Hyperliquid requires cross-chain bridging

According to data from crypto analytics site L2BEAT, Lighter’s blockchain has quickly become one of the top Layer-2 solutions on Ethereum by total locked value and on-chain funds. Novakovski said his business is already profitable. “We are very satisfied with our position,” he added when asked how his product compares to Hyperliquid. “But we’re working hard.” This confident yet humble statement shows Novakovski’s clear awareness of the competitive landscape.

Peter Thiel and Robinhood’s Top-tier Investment Lineup

The $68 million funding round featured an impressive lineup of investors. Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund is one of Silicon Valley’s most legendary VC firms, with Thiel as a PayPal co-founder and early Facebook investor, known for spotting disruptive technologies. Founders Fund has previously invested in SpaceX, Airbnb, Stripe, and other transformative companies. Their participation lends strong brand endorsement to Lighter.

Ribbit Capital is one of the most active fintech investors, with a portfolio including Robinhood, Coinbase, and Credit Karma. Ribbit’s investment signals confidence in the long-term potential of decentralized financial infrastructure. Even more surprising is Robinhood’s involvement, a company that rarely engages in venture capital, making its participation a notable endorsement of Lighter.

“I want to build the infrastructure layer that ensures everything in finance happens fairly, correctly, and transparently,” Novakovski said in an interview. This vision contrasts with the opacity and centralization of traditional finance, as Lighter aims to rebuild a fair trading system that anyone can verify through blockchain technology.