Light Frame, a Lausanne fintech that designs core banking and portfolio management software for private banks, has raised 5.1 million dollars. On 10 November 2026, the company announced the close of this seed round, which was oversubscribed according to its press release relayed by Startupticker.ch. The money is to fund the platform, the implementation teams working with clients and business development, initially in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

Who is investing in Light Frame?

The round is led by Fortino Ventures, according to the press release of 10 November 2026. Sidekick Partners, Tenity, Chamaeleon and Altair Capital are taking part. Three existing investors are putting in more money: Rogue Venture Partners, New Stack Ventures and Studio Alpha.

These three names already appeared in Light Frame's first funding round. On 29 May 2024, the company had announced 1.7 million dollars in pre-seed funding, led by ATX Venture Partners and New Stack Ventures, according to its press release published on PR Newswire. At the time, finews.ch described StudioAlpha as a Swiss investment group whose partner Stefan Arn is a former chief information officer of UBS.

Fortino Ventures explains its choice by the founders' track record. "Schuyler and the team have run a regulated Swiss bank on the kind of infrastructure they are now replacing," says Hugh Phelan, investment manager at Fortino Ventures, in the press release.

Former Alpian executives at the helm

Light Frame was founded in January 2024 by four people, according to its 2024 press release. Schuyler Weiss, its chief executive, founded and ran Alpian, an online private bank in French-speaking Switzerland. The 2026 press release presents Alpian as the first Swiss private bank built natively for the cloud. Mathieu Clément was its chief operating and information officer. Technologists Philippe Kernevez and Gregory Bataille complete the founding team.

According to finews.ch, Schuyler Weiss ran Alpian for just over five years, until the end of 2023. The team has therefore built and operated a regulated Swiss bank, with the constraints of traditional banking software, Light Frame's press release points out.

What does Light Frame sell to private banks?

Light Frame offers software that brings together banking functions and investment management. According to the company, the platform is designed in Switzerland, hosted in the cloud and built API-first (application programming interfaces). It integrates artificial intelligence (AI) to automate complex operations.

The software is modular. A bank can replace a single building block of its IT or adopt the full solution. Light Frame thus claims to cut implementation times and total cost of ownership, without putting figures on these gains.

"AI is redefining what technology can deliver, but realising its potential in wealth management depends on the underlying infrastructure," says Schuyler Weiss in the press release of 10 November 2026.

Light Frame has also formed a banking partnership. On 19 June 2025, it announced with Mambu, a provider of cloud core banking systems, a joint offering for private banking and wealth management. Light Frame contributes investment operations and portfolio management. At the time, Mambu claimed more than 260 clients in production in 65 countries.

Which clients is the Lausanne fintech targeting?

The target remains the same: private banks and wealth managers. The 2026 press release mentions client operations already in production in the EMEA region, without naming any institution. In May 2024, Schuyler Weiss was initially targeting small and medium-sized private banks, according to finews.ch; no contract had been signed at the time.

The description of the headquarters has changed. In 2024, Light Frame described itself as a Swiss-American company based in Providence, in the United States, with an office in Lausanne. The June 2025 press release with Mambu refers to Light Frame SA, a Swiss provider; the November 2026 release says it is based in Lausanne.

Swiss core banking: up against Avaloq and Temenos

Light Frame is entering a market dominated by two providers. According to the 2026 study by the Institut für Finanzdienstleistungen Zug (IFZ), presented on 27 October 2026 and reported by 2clics, Finnova equips 63% of the retail banks surveyed in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, and Avaloq 22%. Temenos equips only 3%. The study covers retail banks, not specifically private banks.

The same study measures strong inertia: around two thirds of banks expect to keep their current system in ten years' time. Interfaces top their list of needs. Cloud and modularity have become a "tacit condition", according to the authors.

Avaloq is betting on the same modularity argument. On 10 November 2026, the Swiss software provider, owned by the Japanese technology group NEC, launched its Mosaic platform in the United States, according to finews.ch and Inside IT. Mosaic plugs into wealth managers' existing systems without replacing them. It starts with two modules: Portfolio IQ, which aggregates portfolio data, and Allocator, which is used to build and manage portfolios. An access point called Agent Connect is to allow AI applications to read verified investment data.

Avaloq says it serves more than 170 financial institutions worldwide and devotes 20% of its software revenue to research and development, according to finews.ch. Its chief executive, Martin Greweldinger, promises American wealth managers that they can modernise their technology "without having to replace their proven systems", according to Inside IT.

Temenos, the other Swiss software provider, is also strengthening its wealth management offering. In July 2026, it completed the acquisition of Additiv, a Zurich fintech providing software for banks and wealth managers, as 2clics reported when Temenos raised its profit forecast. Its revenue reached 292.8 million dollars in the third quarter of 2026. In the United States, it sells modules as SaaS, such as its SaaS collections solution chosen by Sound Credit Union in October 2026.

Light FrameAvaloqTemenos
Recent newsSeed round of 5.1 million dollars (10 November 2026)Launch of Mosaic in the United States (10 November 2026)Revenue of 292.8 million dollars (third quarter of 2026)
Stated approachModules or full solution, cloud, APIModules added to existing systems, cloud, APIModules as SaaS, acquisition of Additiv (July 2026)
Named clientsNo names; operations in production in the EMEA regionMore than 170 financial institutionsVancity, Sound Credit Union (October 2026 contracts)
Share in the IFZ 2026 study (retail banks)Not mentioned22%3%

What this funding round says about French-speaking Switzerland's banking software

Editorial view: Light Frame and Avaloq are now selling the same argument, modernising piece by piece rather than replacing everything. It responds to the inertia measured by the IFZ among Swiss banks. According to finews.ch, cited by 2clics in its article on this study, developing a complete core banking system was seen as a project of at least ten years, costing tens or hundreds of millions.

The scale is not comparable. Light Frame is raising 5.1 million dollars, while Avaloq serves more than 170 institutions. For a Swiss private bank, the arrival of a provider from French-speaking Switzerland widens a choice that the IFZ, for retail banks, describes as a duopoly. But entrusting its data and operations to a young company remains a gamble: for a bank, it is an "act of trust", acknowledges Hugh Phelan of Fortino Ventures.

What we don't know yet

  • Light Frame's clients: the press release mentions operations in production in the EMEA region, without naming any institution or giving their number.
  • The valuation and each investor's stake: Light Frame does not disclose them.
  • Implementation times: the company announces shorter timelines without quantifying them.

This article does not constitute investment advice.

Sources