Vladimir "Vlad" Novakovski is the co-founder of the AI-powered networking platform Lunchclub and the founder and CEO of Lighter, a decentralized perpetual futures exchange. His career spans high-frequency trading at Citadel, machine learning leadership at Quora, and engineering management at Addepar. ^{[1] [2]}

Early Life and Education

Novakovski immigrated to the United States from Russia as a child. He demonstrated exceptional early talent in computing and physics, earning a place on the U.S. national teams for both the International Olympiad in Informatics and the International Physics Olympiad. ^[3]

He enrolled at Harvard University at the age of 16 and completed the four-year program in three years. He graduated in 2004 at the age of 19 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics. ^[2]

Career

Novakovski began his career in quantitative finance immediately after graduating from Harvard. He has since transitioned through senior roles in the technology sector before becoming a serial entrepreneur on web3.

Quantitative Finance

In 2004, Novakovski joined Citadel Investment Group as an Associate in Quantitative Research. According to reports, he was personally recruited to the firm by CEO Ken Griffin. ^[2] His X (formerly Twitter) profile notes that his first role involved building high-frequency trading (HFT) systems for Foreign Exchange (FX) markets. ^[1] Following his time at Citadel, he joined Graham Capital Management, L.P. in 2005, where he worked for over seven years as a Portfolio Manager and Director, managing a sizable quantitative portfolio. ^[2]

Technology Leadership

In 2012, Novakovski moved from finance to the technology industry. He joined the question-and-answer platform Quora as its Head of Machine Learning, where he led a team that improved the platform's core metrics. ^[2] In 2014, he became the Vice President of Engineering at Addepar, a wealth management technology company. In this role, he was responsible for rebuilding engineering teams and improving platform stability. ^{[2] [1]}

Entrepreneurship

In 2017, Novakovski co-founded Lunchclub, an AI-powered platform designed to facilitate curated, one-on-one professional introductions. He served as the company's CEO. ^[2] After seeing significant user growth during the COVID-19 pandemic, the platform's expansion stalled in 2022. Rather than scale down the company, Novakovski opted to pivot the business. In 2022, retaining 80% of the original team, he transitioned the company into Lighter, a venture focused on decentralized finance. ^[3] Novakovski is also an active angel investor in technology startups, including Cognition, Modal, Fabric Crypto, and Daimo. ^[1]

Lighter

Founded in 2022 as a pivot from Lunchclub, Lighter is a decentralized exchange (DEX) for perpetual futures. As founder and CEO, Novakovski leads the project's technical development and strategic vision. His stated motivation for creating Lighter was to build fairer, more transparent financial infrastructure. ^[3]

The platform is built as a custom Layer 2 blockchain on Ethereum, utilizing its own Zero-Knowledge (ZK) Rollup technology. The core logic, including the order matching engine and clearing process, is integrated into a custom SNARK circuit to ensure verifiable on-chain execution. This architecture is designed to provide performance and low latency comparable to centralized exchanges while maintaining the self-custody and transparency of DeFi. The project's public mainnet went live in October 2025. ^{[1] [4]}

Lighter uses a business model analogous to the Payment for Order Flow (PFOF) model seen in traditional finance. It offers zero-fee trading for retail users to attract a large volume of order flow. It then charges fees to advanced traders, such as market makers and HFT firms, for low-latency access to this retail order flow. ^[4] The project has established a strategic partnership with Robinhood, where CEO Vlad Tenev serves as an advisor to Lighter. Novakovski mentored Tenev early in his career, and the connection provides Lighter a potential distribution channel to Robinhood's user base. ^[4]

Lighter has raised almost $90 million in financing across two rounds. A previously unreported 2024 round raised $21 million, led by Haun Ventures and Craft Ventures. In November 2025, the company announced a $68 million round for equity and token warrants, co-led by Founders Fund and Ribbit Capital, with other investors including Robinhood. This later round valued the company at approximately $1.5 billion. ^{[3] [4]} Novakovski announced the project's native token, the Lighter Infrastructure Token ($LIT), on December 30, 2025. ^[1]

Public Engagement and Controversies

Novakovski is an active public figure for Lighter, using social media and interviews to communicate project developments and address community feedback. In October 2025, amid public criticism of his project, he proposed holding an "Ask Me Anything" (AMA) session exclusively with skeptics to address their concerns directly. That same month, he clarified that the Lighter points program was not based on trading volume and was designed to reward regular retail users rather than "volume farmers." ^[1]

On December 18, 2025, Novakovski appeared on "The Chopping Block" podcast and described Lighter's token launch strategy as a "marathon, not a sprint," emphasizing long-term health over initial-day performance. ^[5]

Sybil Screening Controversy

In late December 2025, the Lighter project faced community controversy regarding a user screening process implemented ahead of a token distribution event. The process, which Novakovski clarified used data science methods like "cluster detection" to remove fraudulent accounts, was intended to filter out Sybil attackers (users creating multiple accounts to unfairly gain rewards) and was labeled a "witch hunt" by some who claimed they were unfairly disqualified. ^{[6] [8]}

Around December 28, 2025, Novakovski addressed the issue in a Twitter Space interview and on other platforms. He confirmed that the Lighter team had established an appeal mechanism via the project's Discord channel for users who believed they were wrongly flagged. He noted that the number of appeals received was "lower than we expected." Novakovski also stated that the specific details of the screening algorithm would remain confidential to prevent it from being reverse-engineered or exploited by malicious actors. ^[7] Following the controversy, he publicly reassured the community in early January 2026 that the Token Generation Event (TGE) was proceeding as planned despite rumors of cancellation. ^[8]

Interviews

Lighter and Ethereum Orderbooks #01

In an interview that premiered on September 22, 2025, on the YouTube channel Flirting with Models, Vlad Novakovski discusses the architectural and operational characteristics of Lighter, a decentralized exchange developed on Ethereum.

During the interview, Novakovski describes Lighter as a project created in response to the continued dominance of centralized platforms in digital asset trading. He states that the system is implemented as a custom Layer 2 rollup on Ethereum and relies on zero knowledge proof circuits alongside a private transaction sequencer. According to his explanation, this configuration is intended to enable transaction processing off-chain while anchoring verification and settlement to Ethereum Layer 1.

Novakovski explains that zero knowledge circuits are used to verify the correctness of exchange operations, including order execution and state transitions. He notes that transaction proofs are submitted to Ethereum, which acts as the final verification layer. In cases where proofs are invalid, the protocol includes mechanisms that allow users to withdraw funds directly from Ethereum, independent of the Layer 2 environment.

The interview also addresses operational and market structure considerations. Novakovski outlines Lighter’s use of protocol-managed liquidity pools as a method for initial liquidity provision. He further explains that the platform applies a fee structure in which retail participants are not charged maker or taker fees, while professional traders may incur costs related to specialized API access and latency-sensitive services.

In discussing broader implications, Novakovski presents his view on how Ethereum-based composability may influence the development of specialized Layer 2 systems. He indicates that, within this framework, rollups designed for specific financial functions could integrate with other on-chain protocols, contributing to a more interconnected decentralized financial environment. ^[9]

Zero-Fee ZK Perpetuals and Ethereum Layer 2 Design #02

In an interview published on November 25, 2025, on the YouTube channel of The Block, Vlad Novakovski discussed design and implementation choices during an episode of the Big Brain Podcast. Speaking in his capacity as founder and CEO of Lighter, he described the technical and structural considerations behind developing a zero-fee, zero-knowledge based perpetuals decentralized exchange implemented as a Layer 2 network on Ethereum.

According to Novakovski, the system architecture was defined by constraints related to execution speed, transaction cost, and verification. He stated that the decision to deploy as an Ethereum Layer 2, rather than as an independent Layer 1 or on another blockchain, was based on Ethereum’s role as a settlement layer and its compatibility with existing on-chain assets and protocols. In this context, zero-knowledge proofs were described as the mechanism used to validate trades and liquidations, enabling external verification of system behavior while supporting lower-latency execution.

Novakovski outlined Lighter’s fee structure, which removes trading fees for retail participants while applying fees to professional traders and market makers. He characterized this model as an operational choice informed by transaction costs and system capacity, rather than as a marketing strategy. He also noted the use of rate limits and execution constraints to manage order flow and reduce non-productive activity on the network.

In discussing market structure, Novakovski stated that centralized exchanges account for the majority of derivatives trading volume, while decentralized exchanges represent a smaller but evolving segment. He indicated that events following the collapse of FTX increased scrutiny of exchange infrastructure and risk management practices. Referring to a period of market volatility in October 2025, he reported that Lighter’s liquidation mechanisms operated according to design, while limitations in off-chain infrastructure resulted in temporary service interruptions.

The interview concluded with Novakovski’s description of a layered blockchain model in which Ethereum functions as the base settlement layer and Layer 2 systems provide execution and risk management functionality. He also referenced the project’s approach to token issuance, describing the timing of a token generation event as a consideration influenced by market conditions and system readiness rather than by short-term price dynamics. ^[10]