Schuyler Weiss, a Barrington native, has come back home.
Weiss, who moved to Switzerland to earn his MBA and then established a Swiss digital private bank called Alpian in 2022, has launched another financial technology company. Light Frame Ltd. is based in Providence and has a presence in Lausanne, Switzerland. The company, developing an upgraded technology platform serving private banks and wealth managers, has already raised $1.7 million in pre-seed funding. He is the CEO.
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PBN: Your bio says you were a founder and former CEO of Alpian, a digital bank based in Switzerland. From what I can see, it continues to operate. Why did you leave Alpian and leap into this startup?
WEISS: Alpian was by far the most influential and meaningful professional experience that I have had to date. I had the chance to found a company, grow the team to over 120 people across five geographies, secure a universal banking license from the Swiss regulator, launch one of the most technologically advanced banks in the world and grow the client base and asset base exponentially. And despite the prestige of the job and the generosity of the Swiss, I did not want to go through life without feeling at home. Rhode Island is my home and it is in Rhode Island that I wanted to live and work. Moving back was only a matter of time, and my wife and I decided that the end of 2023 was the time to make the shift. While we faced some of the well-known challenges of moving to Rhode Island (i.e. housing prices, commuting over the bridge, etc.), we are very happy in Rhode Island, and I am excited to bring my experience and skillset towards building Light Frame into one of the state’s most important companies. There is still a long road ahead to achieve this vision, but we have started strong and there is a lot of momentum behind us.
PBN: Light Frame is developing improved technology to serve private banks and wealth managers. Can you provide more information about what prospective clients would look like, size and location? And what would the payment model be?
WEISS: Historically, banks saw technology as a cost center rather than a differentiator. This drove their focus towards building personal relationships with clients, and they prioritized their budgets accordingly. The systematic lack of investment in technology across the industry created a gap between the technology found at banks and that of the modern standard. And while the personal relationship remains essential, the banking industry’s failure to adopt modern technologies has made traditional players susceptible to disruption by neobanks and banking alternatives. Light Frame’s proprietary technology closes the gap, enabling existing banks to innovate faster, deliver better client experiences and dramatically streamline operations. Light Frame intends to be one of the unique financial technology companies that is headquartered in Rhode Island and delivers innovation to banks across the globe. Given our familiarity with and standing within Switzerland, we will launch in the Swiss market in 2025, catering to small and medium-sized private banks. We are planning to launch our product in the U.S. market shortly thereafter.
PBN: At a time when technology allows companies to be located virtually anywhere in the world, why set up shop in Rhode Island? If Rhode Island will be a home base for Light Frame, why maintain a presence in Switzerland?
WEISS: I’ve heard about Rhode Island’s potential since I was a child. It is time to stop talking about it and to start realizing it. We have an incredibly smart and talented population. We have top-tier colleges. We have a great culture and standard of living. We have proximity to the major financial hubs of New York and Boston, but at a fraction of the cost. And we have the will to drive entrepreneurship as evidenced by the efforts of RIHub and the creation of the CIC Providence. Though Rhode Island has its faults and is not recognized as the obvious choice, we have the elements required for the state to be a center for innovation. Now we make it happen.
In my experience as an entrepreneur, I’ve found that the difference between success and failure primarily comes down to the quality of the team and the ability for that team to work together. The Light Frame team has worked together and delivered exceptional results together for several years in Switzerland, and the setup we have gives us the best chances of success. The Swiss presence also enables us to capitalize on the network and credibility that we have established over the past seven years as the founders and executives of a Swiss bank.
PBN: Light Frame recently announced it had raised $1.7 million in pre-seed funding. How would you describe the venture capital landscape in Rhode Island and how could it be improved?
WEISS: The venture capital landscape in Rhode Island is not yet mature. While Light Frame was fortunate to secure an investment from … Rogue Venture Partners [which has a presence in Rhode Island], it would have been near impossible to raise the rest of the round within the state. We had six venture capital investors in the round, with Rogue being the only one from Rhode Island. Clearly, this needs to change if the state is to become a hub for entrepreneurship.
If the state wants to improve the VC landscape, then it needs to adapt its tolerance for risk. Rhode Islanders skew towards risk aversion, which is contrary to a thriving startup ecosystem. We must embrace risk and build it into the curriculum of our schools, the theme of our local media, and the foundation of our mentality. With a greater pension for risk there will be more entrepreneurs. With more entrepreneurs, there will be more ventures. With more ventures, there will be more capital. And while there would most certainly be failures along the way, similar to those that the state has already observed, we need to learn from those and push forward, nonetheless.
PBN: Rhode Islanders generally have a rather negative perception of the state’s business climate in terms of the cost of doing business and the red tape involved. What have you found so far?
WEISS: To date, organizing and operating the company in Rhode Island has been simple and straightforward. There is a small but growing group of like-minded individuals and entities who are looking to facilitate startup creation in Rhode Island, headlined by RIHub, and I was fortunate to benefit from their support. There is the potential that we see more enforced bureaucracy and inefficiency as we scale the business, and I look forward to engaging with the state at the point to see how we can work together to change the processes and the perception.
