Available in select eurozone countries
Put your fundraised
cash to work
Raising money is hard. Now you’re done, you need to make sure inflation doesn't eat it up. Luckily, that's easy with BlackRock money market funds...
Earn interest
4.88%
4.66%
3.20%
with Money market funds. All yields shown are gross and variable.
Tried and trusted by
1,000+
companies
3 reasons to put your cash into MMFs with Lightyear
Invest with low risk
When you deposit your money into Lightyear, it's segregated from firm assets at all times. If you choose to buy MMFs, we'll hold your money until the order is filled (max 24 hours) then it's sent to BlackRock. The MMFs are held according to the prospectus, by BlackRock depositary J.P. Morgan.
BlackRock funds are AAA rated - the highest possible rating – showing high level of creditworthiness and strong capacity to repay investors.
… and low pricing
Access your money, always
A million invested = a free employee
$1 million invested into our USD MMF will yield $51,000 yearly – enough to hire one extra employee! Yield as of 24/04/24, calculated using the fee tier of 0.3%
Say goodbye to high fees & locking away your money …
"Investing in money market funds is an important part of our treasury management strategy, especially today, with interest rates at a high standstill. BlackRock funds through Lightyear are the best option in the market for this.
At Ready Player Me we’re also using Lightyear to grow our money. There’s a few reasons for this choice: Lightyear offers highly liquid funds at a low cost, plus they’ve made opening and managing of business investment accounts easier than ever before."
Pavel Ruban, Ready Player Me
Combating treasury risks with MMFs
Submit interestCredit & concentration risk
Holding your money with weak counterparties or in one place.
The funds we offer have over 300 holdings. And by law, a single holding of an MMF can’t account to over 5% of all holdings — making MMFs a very diversified asset class.
Liquidity risk
Not being able to access your money in a short timeframe.
10% of an MMF has to - by law - be invested in daily maturing assets. For the funds we offer, between 20-50% of assets mature daily, ensuring fast payouts for you.
Interest rate risk
Losing money to fluctuating interest rates.
The longer the maturity of an instrument is, the more sensitive it is to interest rates changing. The weighted average maturity for underlying assets in the funds we offer is 56 days, keeping your interest rate risk low.
What are Money Market Funds?
Money market funds are interest paying instruments, investing in secure, highly liquid underlying assets like cash and cash equivalents.
These assets change with base interest rates – offering higher returns in today’s high interest environment – but have short maturity, meaning they’re less sensitive to short-term interest rate changes
MMFs aim to maintain a net asset value of $ / € / £ 1 per share. Excess earnings are generated through interest on the portfolio holdings, and distributed to you as monthly dividend payments.
Keeping your assets protected
Trusting us with your investments is something we do not take for granted.
Regulated in the EU & UK
In the EU, we’re licensed by the Estonian Financial Supervision Authority, who together with audit firms, carries out regular supervision over us.
Safeguarding your assets
All of your cash and investments are kept completely separate from Lightyear’s assets and will not be used by us in any case. Our obligations to protect your money are not limited to any maximum amount.
Keeping your account safe
From 2-factor authentication at sign in, to only being able to withdraw money to your own bank account and much more. We make sure no one else gets access to the funds on your Lightyear account.
Questions you might ask
How do I open a business account?
It’s super quick and easy to open up a business account. Just fill in your details on this form and someone will be in touch with you!
How much does it cost to open a business account?
It’s free to open up a business account! We also don’t charge any custody or monthly fees. We also pay interest on uninvested cash for businesses too. Check out our full pricing information here.
Which countries are money market funds available in on Lightyear for VC-backed businesses?
Currently, money market funds are available in the following countries:
Austria Estonia Finland France Germany Hungary Italy Luxembourg Netherlands Spain
Why do I need a Legal Entity Identifier (LEI)?
A Legal Entity Identifier, also known as an LEI, uniquely identifies your business. It's required by law for businesses trading stocks in Europe.
If you’ve already registered an LEI — we’ll find it for you during onboarding, all you need to do is confirm the details.
If you don’t yet have an LEI, you can generate one within the Lightyear app for €45 + VAT.
How often does the yield on money market funds change?
Yield on money market funds fluctuates daily.
How often do money market funds pay interest?
MMFs available on Lightyear's platform accrue interest daily and we pay the returns to your account on the first of every month.
What are the benefits of money market funds, compared to fixed term deposits?
Fixed term deposits lock your money for a specific time, meaning there’s no liquidity for when you need your money fast. This usually means businesses structure their money into multiple tiers, allocating different amounts into. For example, 1 month / 2 months / 3 months / 6 months & 12 months deposits, which is a hassle to maintain.
Money market funds are required to maintain high liquidity — and with Lightyear, all trades placed before 9:30am Dublin time will be processed that day, with payouts no later than the following one.
Is there a minimum deposit size?
We offer a concierge service for VC-backed businesses investing in MMFs, for which the minimum deposit size is 500€/$/£. (For personal Lightyear MMF accounts it’s 1 €/$/£.)
Where can I find detailed information about the funds you offer?
You can invest in three BlackRock Money Market Funds funds, in three currencies. The best part — when you invest in a fund in a currency you already have, there’ll be no currency conversion at play!
Here are the funds we offer on our platform: