# Dennis Thankachan

> Dennis Thankachan is the co-founder and CEO of Lightyear, a New York software company that automates how enterprises buy and manage telecom and network services. A former Goldman Sachs banker and hedge fund investor at PointState Capital, he built a thesis around telecom while investing in the sector, then left finance in 2019 to fix an industry he describes as a multi-trillion-dollar market with almost no happy customers. Under his leadership Lightyear has raised roughly $48.6 million, closed a $31 million Series B led by Altos Ventures in 2024, and serves customers including Palo Alto Networks, Five Guys, Pandora Jewelry, and Teladoc.

- **Role:** Co-Founder and CEO at Lightyear
- **Organizations:** Lightyear, PointState Capital, Goldman Sachs, ONUG
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** University of Texas at Austin
- **Known for:** Co-founded and scaled Lightyear, the first software platform to digitize and automate the entire enterprise telecom life cycle., Raised roughly $48.6 million in venture funding, including a $31 million Series B led by Altos Ventures in 2024., Built a customer base of 300+ enterprises including Palo Alto Networks, Five Guys, Pandora Jewelry, and Teladoc.

## Career timeline

- **2014** — Joins Goldman Sachs as an investment banker after college.
- **2016** — Moves to PointState Capital, a ~$10B macro hedge fund, focusing on TMT public and private equity investments.
- **2019** — Co-founds Lightyear in New York with CTO Ryan Schrack to automate enterprise telecom.
- **2021** — Lightyear scales as a remote-first team building out its enterprise telecom platform.
- **2024** — Closes a $31M Series B led by Altos Ventures, bringing total funding to about $48.6M.

## Achievements

- Co-founded and scaled Lightyear, the first software platform to digitize and automate the entire enterprise telecom life cycle.
- Raised roughly $48.6 million in venture funding, including a $31 million Series B led by Altos Ventures in 2024.
- Built a customer base of 300+ enterprises including Palo Alto Networks, Five Guys, Pandora Jewelry, and Teladoc.
- Assembled a network of 1,000+ telecom and connectivity providers on the platform.
- Transitioned from a Wall Street career at Goldman Sachs and PointState Capital into a category-defining founder.

## Latest updates

- **2024-11** — Lightyear closed a $31 million Series B led by Altos Ventures, bringing total funding to about $48.6 million, with 300+ enterprise customers.

## Links

- Website: https://lightyear.ai
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thankachan/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/lightyearai
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6FQqro5sho

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/dennis-thankachan
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-20