# Vladimir Novakovski

> Vladimir Novakovski is the founder and CEO of Lighter and a cofounder of Lunchclub. A Harvard graduate and silver medalist in international physics and informatics competitions, he worked at Citadel, Graham Capital, Quora, Addepar, and Euclid before founding Lunchclub with Scott Wu and Hayley Leibson. He now develops verifiable financial trading infrastructure and serves on the CFTC Innovation Advisory Committee.

- **Role:** Founder and CEO at Lighter
- **Organizations:** Lighter, Lunchclub, Citadel, Graham Capital Management, Quora, Addepar, Euclid Analytics, South Park Commons, Commodity Futures Trading Commission Innovation Advisory Committee
- **Education:** AB with honors in Economics, Harvard University, Began doctoral work in Economics as a Presidential Scholar; left academia, Harvard University, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
- **Known for:** Silver medal, 2001 International Physics Olympiad, representing the United States., Silver medal, 2001 International Olympiad in Informatics, representing the United States., Graduated from Harvard at 18 with an AB with honors.

## Career timeline

- **2001** — Won silver medals at the International Physics Olympiad and the International Olympiad in Informatics.
- **2004–2005** — Quantitative research associate at Citadel.
- **2005–2012** — Director and portfolio manager at Graham Capital Management; led high-frequency trading.
- **2012–2014** — Led machine learning at Quora.
- **2014–2015** — Vice president of engineering at Addepar.
- **2015–2017** — Chief technology officer at Euclid Analytics; appointment announced October 13, 2015.
- **2017** — Cofounded Lunchclub with Scott Wu and Hayley Leibson.
- **2020** — Lunchclub added video meetings and raised a $24.2 million Series A.
- **2021** — Lunchclub launched mobile apps and expanded in India.
- **2022** — Became founder and CEO of Lighter; later described the transition from Lunchclub as a pivot within the same corporate entity.
- **2025** — Lighter raised $68 million led by Founders Fund and Ribbit Capital.
- **2026** — Listed as a member of the CFTC Innovation Advisory Committee.

## Achievements

- Silver medal, 2001 International Physics Olympiad, representing the United States.
- Silver medal, 2001 International Olympiad in Informatics, representing the United States.
- Graduated from Harvard at 18 with an AB with honors.
- Cofounded Lunchclub, which raised a $24.2 million Series A in 2020.
- Founded Lighter, which announced $68 million in funding in November 2025.
- Member of the CFTC Innovation Advisory Committee.

## Latest updates

- **2026-10** — CFTC committee roster lists Novakovski as Lighter founder and CEO and an Innovation Advisory Committee member; verified October 25, 2026.
- **2026-08** — Lighter published an August 19 update announcing advanced charting powered by TradingView.
- **2026-07** — Discussed his career, Lunchclub’s transition to Lighter, and exchange design in a July 27 Bankless interview.
- **2026-07** — Discussed Lighter’s expanded Robinhood partnership on The Rollup, published July 2.
- **2026-06** — Discussed institutional adoption, a US regulatory path, and team culture on The Rollup, published June 13.
- **2025-11** — Lighter announced a $68 million funding round; Fortune reported an approximately $1.5 billion valuation, which Novakovski declined to confirm.

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vnovakovski
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/vnovakovski

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/vladimir-novakovski
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-25