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Lightspark

Los Angeles, US · Founded 2022 · 90 employees on LinkedIn · 11 known investors

Lightspark provides payment infrastructure and financial tools that enable businesses to modernize their payment systems and integrate with existing platforms. The company aims to make global money flows more accessible, affordable, and immediate for businesses worldwide.

Also known as Lightspark Group, Inc.

Crypto & Web3Data & InfrastructureFintech

Founders & leadership

Lightspark was founded in 2022 by David Marcus.

DMDavid Marcus
David Marcusin𝕏Co-Founder & CEOInvestor at FELIX CAPITAL

Investors · 11

A.Capital VenturesSan Francisco
a16z cryptoMenlo Park
Andreessen HorowitzMenlo Park · $500K – $50M
Coatue ManagementNew York · $1M – $20M
FELIX CAPITALLondon · $1M – $20M
Hivemind Ventures, Llcvia Max Webster · inferred
MatrixSan Francisco · $100K – $10M
NFXSan Francisco · $250K – $5M
ParadigmSan Francisco · $1M – $100M
Scribble VenturesPortola Valley · $750K – $1.5M
Thrive CapitalreportedNew York · $500K – $25M

Company profile

researched Aug 2026

Lightspark is a payments infrastructure company that describes itself as "the API for money" and as open infrastructure for moving money worldwide. Through a single integration, clients can send, receive, hold, spend and convert money in any currency, fiat or stablecoin, across more than 65 countries. Its product lines are grouped into four areas: Global Accounts (a dollar account for each of a client's users, card-enabled and with cash-out in 65+ countries); Payments (payouts, pay-ins, on/off ramps, cross-border transfers, stablecoin payments and agentic payments); Accounts & Cards (named virtual accounts, self-custody wallets, branded Visa cards, client-issued stablecoins and rewards); and DeFi & Trading (deposits and withdrawals between bank rails and on-chain balances, and swaps across fiat, stablecoins and Bitcoin).

The company's technical foundation is Bitcoin and the Lightning Network. Earlier coverage describes Lightspark as building software that lets participants connect to the Lightning Network without its historic cost and latency problems, and as pursuing a model where cross-border transfers convert a sending currency into Bitcoin and then into the recipient's local currency. Enterprise products named by the company include Connect, UMA (Universal Money Address), Spark (a Bitcoin Layer 2 announced in October 2024 and made live in April 2025) and Grid, launched in October 2025 for real-time global money movement powered by Bitcoin. Lightspark states SOC 2 Type II, NIST CSF and ISO 27001 security postures and completed SOC 2 Type 1 compliance in June 2024.

Named partners and customers referenced on the company's site and in its news archive include SoFi, Coinbase, Revolut, Nubank, Bitso, Shakepay, Unocoin, Yellow Card, Foxbit, BtcTurk | Kripto, Bitybank, Transfero, BlockBee, Cross River, Lithic and Hercle. A 2024 Fortune article noted that Stripe, Coinbase and Nubank were trying out Lightspark's tools, and that the company declined to disclose user or revenue figures at that time.

Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.

Key figures

latest reported
HeadcountAug 202690

Company-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.

Founder mafia

2 people who came through Lightspark went on to found or lead other companies.

Jim EveringhamCofounder and SVP of EngineeringFounded LiveOpsPrashanth BalasubramanianChairman of the Management Board - Lightspark Payments Europe (Formerly Striga)Founded Striga

Competitors · 10

by search overlap
Wise1092 shared keywordsWise is a financial platform offering international money transfers, multi-currency accounts, and debit cards with low fees and competitive exchange rates, serving millions of users globally.
Coinbase753 shared keywordsCoinbase is a cryptocurrency exchange platform that offers trading, custody, and financial services for cryptocurrencies, stocks, derivatives, and prediction markets to consumers, institutions, and developers. The company operates a full-stack infrastructure including secure custody, liquidity services, stablecoin infrastructure, and global settlement rails.
Stripe623 shared keywordsStripe provides financial infrastructure for businesses to accept payments, offer financial services, and implement custom revenue models across international markets in 135+ currencies.
Ledger601 shared keywordsLedger provides hardware and software cryptocurrency wallet solutions that enable users to buy, swap, earn, and manage digital assets with security features and portfolio tracking capabilities across multiple blockchain networks.
Crypto548 shared keywordsCrypto.com operates a regulated all-in-one financial app where users can buy, trade, earn, and spend cryptocurrencies, stocks and ETFs, and prediction market contracts, plus a self-custody onchain wallet with DeFi access. It serves retail and institutional investors globally, with equities and prediction markets offered to US users under SEC and CFTC regulation.
Modern Treasury497 shared keywordsModern Treasury provides a payments infrastructure platform that enables businesses to move and track money across fiat and stablecoin rails through a single API. The company serves enterprises and financial service providers looking to streamline payment operations across multiple currencies, regions, and payment systems.
Jetlore480 shared keywordsJetlore was a Palo Alto AI startup that turned unstructured retail product data into structured attributes so merchants could personalise what each shopper saw. Founded by Stanford researchers, it raised from Sierra Ventures, Alsop Louie Partners, Fenox Venture Capital, BRM Capital and Mercury Fund, and PayPal acquired it in 2018.
Chainlink389 shared keywordsChainlink is an oracle platform that connects blockchains with external data, existing systems, and other chains, providing data feeds, cross-chain interoperability, settlement, compliance, and privacy infrastructure. It serves financial institutions and decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols building and operating tokenized asset and onchain financial products.
CoinTracker386 shared keywordsCoinTracker is crypto portfolio tracking and tax software that syncs wallets and exchanges to generate IRS-ready tax forms.
River Financial386 shared keywordsRiver is a bitcoin bank providing full-reserve custody and financial services built on sound money principles. The company publishes proof of reserves and public financials to demonstrate the security and soundness of its operations.

Companies competing with Lightspark for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.

In the news

Fortunefortune.com · Apr 2023a16z: Investing in Lightsparka16z.com · May 2022Investing in Lightspark | Andreessen Horowitza16z.com · May 2022

▸Research sources · 8

primary sources listed

8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.

Frequently asked questions

What does Lightspark do?
Lightspark offers API-based infrastructure for global accounts, payments, cards and stablecoins across 65+ countries.
Who founded Lightspark?
Lightspark was founded by David Marcus in 2022.
Who are Lightspark's investors?
Lightspark's investors include A.Capital Ventures, a16z crypto, Andreessen Horowitz, Coatue Management, FELIX CAPITAL, Hivemind Ventures, Llc, Matrix, NFX and 3 more.
Where is Lightspark headquartered?
Lightspark is headquartered in Los Angeles, US.