Following Estonia's independence in 1991, Rain Lõhmus graduated from Tallinn University of Technology and completed the Harvard Business School General Manager Program. At age 24, Lõhmus co-founded Hansabank, which grew into the largest financial institution across Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania before being acquired by Sweden's Swedbank in 2005.
In 1999, Lõhmus and Andres Viisemann founded LHV (Lõhmus, Haavel & Viisemann) as an investment firm, transforming it into a full-scale licensed commercial bank. Lõhmus possessed an extraordinary early understanding of digital tech: while legacy European banks viewed tech startups with suspicion, LHV opened its banking infrastructure, virtual IBANs, and real-time EUR payment rails to early fintechs.
LHV became the primary banking partner powering Wise (TransferWise), Coinbase, and European crypto exchanges. Publicly listed on Nasdaq Baltic with a market capitalization exceeding €1 billion, LHV stands as the financial backbone of the Baltic digital revolution.
