The internet has made everything more open, more accessible, and more immediate… But our financial system hasn’t kept pace - endless inefficiencies and closed systems remain. Lightspark exists to change that. We’re challenging the status quo, updating the current system, and empowering our partners to build better solutions. We make it easy for businesses to offer payments that are accessible, affordable, and better suited for today’s world.

Lightspark provides the tools businesses need to modernize payments, integrate with existing systems, and unlock new possibilities. Together, we're building the most advanced financial infrastructure—open, instant, and global—inspiring a future where anyone, anywhere can access the full potential of digital money.

Make
Money
Flow

Backed by belief in a better system. Lightspark is supported by a world-class group of investors who share our conviction: that the global financial system is overdue for reinvention.

Investors

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David Marcus

David is the CEO and co-founder of Lightspark. Most recently, he led all payments and crypto efforts on Meta/Facebook. In 2018, David started Diem (fka Libra).  He joined Meta in 2014 to lead Messenger, which he took from under 200M monthly users to over 1.5B. Previously, he was PayPal’s President. A lifelong entrepreneur, David launched two companies in Europe and then founded mobile payments company Zong in Silicon Valley, which was acquired by PayPal in 2011. 

Tomer Barel

Tomer is co-founder and Operating Partner at Lightspark and President & COO at Melio. He has a diverse background in risk management, operations, data science, and executive leadership roles at Meta/Facebook(Novi) and PayPal - where he oversaw Fraud, Credit, Data Science, Data Platforms, Operations and Customer Service. 

Christian Catalini

Christian is co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer. He previously co-created Diem (fka Libra). He is the founder of the MIT Crypto Economics Lab, and designed the MIT Bitcoin experiment in 2013. His research has been featured in top journals — including Science, Nature, Communications of the ACM — and presented to leading global academic institutions and government organizations. He holds a PhD from the University of Toronto.

Vincent Durmont

Vincent is the Head of Engineering at Lightspark. Most recently, Vincent has held engineering and management positions at Meta/Facebook, where he worked on a wide range of projects, including Diem (fka Libra) and Novi. Throughout his career, he focused on distributed systems and developer experience.

Lizzy Eisenberg

Lizzy Eisenberg is the Vice President of Global Sales at Lightspark. Most recently, Lizzy spent the previous 5+ years building and scaling the Afterpay business in North America and in Europe. Throughout her tenure at Afterpay, now part of Block Inc., Lizzy held multiple leadership, revenue-generating, and market expansion roles, including Head of Sales for Cash App, Head of North America Enterprise Sales for Afterpay & Cash App, Head of Emerging Business for Afterpay & Cash App, and VP of International Expansion. Prior to Afterpay, Lizzy led business development at ShopStyle (acquired by Rakuten) and drove POPSUGAR’s e-commerce efforts. Eisenberg holds a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, where she was named Most Valuable Offensive Player for the Division 1 women’s soccer program.

Kevin Hurley

Kevin is co-founder and Chief Technology Officer. He has extensive experience in the payments ecosystem, including roles at Meta/Facebook and worked on Diem (fka Libra), Novi, Messenger, and WhatsApp payments. Kevin has designed and built numerous aspects of blockchain infrastructure.

Mary Kauffman

Mary Kauffman is the VP of Finance for Lightspark. Previously, Mary was the head of technical accounting and new product & initiatives at OpenSea, a leading NFT Marketplace, and three years at Meta/Facebook as the head of technical accounting for its blockchain, digital asset, and traditional payments businesses.  She was also deeply involved in the financial implications of the Diem Association, focused on technical and operational accounting matters.  Before this, Mary was in Deloitte & Touche LLP’s Global Capital Markets and Assurance groups for over ten years.  Mary also serves on the AICPA’s Digital Asset Working Group’s Industry team.

Jane Martin

Jane is the Chief People Officer at Lightspark. With over 20 years of experience in recruiting, she has scaled and diversified talent for high-growth and early-stage companies in various industries, such as technology, philanthropy, healthcare, education, and fintech.

Jai Massari

Jai is co-founder and Chief Legal Officer. Previously she was a partner at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP and a leader of the firm’s fintech and cryptocurrency practice. She is a fellow of the Berkeley Center for Law and Business at Berkeley Law School.

Christina Smedley

Christina is co-founder and Chief Marketing & Communications Officer for Lightspark. In the past she has led the marketing, communications, content and brand teams at Amazon, Edelman, Facebook/Meta, PayPal and Robinhood.

Geoff Teehan

Geoff is Chief Design Officer with 30 years of experience as a designer, leader and entrepreneur. Previously he was the VP and Head of Design at Meta/Facebook, and also led design for Meta/Facebook's News Feed and Novi. He co-founded the trailblazing digital product design firm Teehan+Lax, which was acquired by Meta in 2015.

Make Money Flow

Team