EquiLibre has raised a Series A round at a €438 million valuation, marking a sharp increase from its previous funding rounds. The Prague-based startup had earlier secured a $10 million seed round led by Blossom Capital at a €122.8 million valuation, following a pre-seed investment from Credo Ventures, an early backer of companies including ElevenLabs and UiPath.
The fresh capital will primarily be used to expand the company's computing infrastructure. EquiLibre plans to build one of the largest AI compute clusters in Central and Eastern Europe to support the training of increasingly sophisticated trading models.
From Poker AI to Financial Markets
Founded in late 2021, EquiLibre develops AI trading agents powered by reinforcement learning, an approach that allows models to learn through trial and error rather than relying on labeled datasets. After training on historical and live market data, the agents execute trades autonomously and continuously adapt to changing market conditions.
The company initially validated its technology in cryptocurrency markets before expanding into U.S. equities. Today, its AI agents trade billions of dollars daily across the S&P 500 and Nasdaq in partnership with quantitative trading firm Tower Research Capital. EquiLibre also claims its trading system has not recorded a single losing month since launch, although it has not disclosed performance data or methodology supporting that statement.
EquiLibre was founded by Martin Schmid (CEO), Rudolf Kadlec (CTO), and Matej Moravčík (CSO), who previously collaborated at DeepMind's research office in Edmonton. There, they developed DeepStack, the first AI system to defeat professional players in no-limit Texas Hold'em poker.
After returning to Czechia, the founders assembled a team of engineers with experience at Google and other U.S. technology companies. Today, EquiLibre employs around 25 people, with Turing Award winner Rich Sutton, one of the pioneers of reinforcement learning, serving as an advisor.
"The market is the judge, and the verdict updates every millisecond. That's what drew us to the problem, and it's why reinforcement learning is such a natural fit. We've proven the technology in the world's biggest and most liquid markets,"
— said CEO Martin Schmid.
For lead investor Creandum, the deal represents its largest investment to date, the VC reported. Partner Carl Fritjofsson Sellers said the team had demonstrated its technology in one of the most demanding environments possible and is now well positioned to scale.
EquiLibre's latest raise adds to a growing list of major Czech funding rounds, highlighting the country's growing momentum as one of Central and Eastern Europe's leading startup ecosystems.
The funding comes amid growing investor interest in European AI startups focused on financial infrastructure and capital markets, alongside recent funding rounds for companies such as 9fin, Upvest, and Midas.
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