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EquiLibre’s poker-to-trading pivot
Three former DeepMind researchers who built an AI that beat professional poker players have turned that reinforcement-learning approach toward financial markets through Prague-based EquiLibre Technologies.
“EquiLibre Technologies, their Prague-based startup, just crossed a $500 million valuation”
TechCrunch reported that EquiLibre “just crossed a $500 million valuation,” after raising an undisclosed-sum Series A led by Creandum, with vice president Cameron Sellers confirming it was the firm’s largest single investment in one go into a company.
Startup Fortune said the founders Martin Schmid, Matej Moravcik, and Rudolf Kadlec co-authored DeepStack in 2017 while visiting PhD students at Google DeepMind’s Edmonton research office, and the system worked by solving incomplete information in real time with deep reinforcement learning across billions of simulated poker hands.
TechCrunch said EquiLibre’s algorithms, in partnership with quant firm Tower Research Capital, have been trading “billions in daily volume across the S&P 500 and Nasdaq,” and the startup claims a “perfect record of zero negative months since inception” after rolling out on crypto markets in 2025 and then on stock exchanges.
Claims, quotes, and validation
EquiLibre’s public messaging emphasizes that trading provides a straightforward feedback loop, with TechCrunch quoting CEO Martin Schmid: “The nice thing about trading and markets is that the scoring is super simple: how much money did the agent make?”
In the same TechCrunch reporting, Schmid said, “I’m not doing this because I’m excited about making markets efficient,” framing the effort as building “new things that have never been built before.”
Startup Fortune added that Creandum’s Cameron Sellers confirmed the Series A as the firm’s largest single check ever written, while also noting the exact dollar figure was not disclosed.
Bitcoin World reported that EquiLibre has partnered with Tower Research Capital to deploy its algorithms across major U.S. stock indices, including the S&P 500 and NASDAQ, and that the company claims “a perfect record of zero negative months since inception” with the same system active in cryptocurrency markets since 2025.
Scaling compute and next moves
Multiple outlets tied EquiLibre’s next phase to scaling infrastructure, with TechCrunch saying it “next plans to scale its compute infrastructure,” bringing online what it expects will be “one of the largest compute clusters in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).”
“next plans to scale its compute infrastructure”
TechCrunch also said EquiLibre previously raised a $10 million seed round led by Blossom Capital at a $140 million valuation, and that pre-seed backers included CEE-focused VC firm Credo, which also backed ElevenLabs and UiPath.
Zamin.uz reported that the company’s team currently consists of 25 people, and that EquiLibre plans to launch one of the largest computing clusters in Central and Eastern Europe in the near future.
Across the coverage, the founders’ location strategy is presented as part of execution, with TechCrunch quoting Schmid that it’s “much easier to keep the good people here, because there’s not a new sexy AI thing happening every two months,” and with Bitcoin World describing the move back to Prague as driven by “a large Czech diaspora at Google and other places.”
