Stoa
Category: AI Infrastructure
Y Combinator S26 startup (Stoa Markets, Inc.) building pricing and trading infrastructure for AI hardware, starting with a live RFQ marketplace for GPUs and AI servers. Stoa was founded in 2026. The company is led by Berat Celik. Based in San Francisco, United States. Team size: 1-10. Latest round: Seed. Key investors include 212, Y Combinator.
- Founded
- 2026
- Headquarters
- San Francisco, United States
- Team size
- 1-10
Value proposition
Replaces phone-call and spreadsheet GPU dealing with an institutional venue where buyers and sellers get firm quotes within 48 hours from vetted dealers. Settled trades then build reference prices that can be marked against, financed and hedged.
Products and solutions
Stoa Markets (RFQ spot marketplace with blind dealer bidding, KYB/counterparty checks, contracts, shipping, payment security and settlement), Stoa Intelligence (GPU price indices and valuations derived from settled trades), Research.
Unique value
Every RFQ, firm quote, award and settlement runs through Stoa, so its prices come from actual transaction history ('a quote is an opinion, a settled trade is a receipt').
Target customer
GPU brokers and dealers, data center operators, AI labs and enterprises, neoclouds and clouds, OEMs/VARs/SIs, resellers and liquidators, lenders and lessors, and funds and capital partners.
Industries served
AI infrastructure, GPU/AI hardware trading, data centers and neoclouds, hardware financing and lending.
Technology advantage
Proprietary transaction data from settled trades feeding reference pricing. Verified-counterparty network with end-to-end settlement. Founders with derivatives trading and commodity-pricing infrastructure backgrounds. Plans for GPU-value-linked financial products in 2027.
How they differentiate
Venue plus pricing: an executable RFQ marketplace generates the price data itself, rather than scraping listings or rental rates. It focuses on physical hardware ownership and collateral value rather than cloud rental pricing.
Main competitors
Ornn (compute price index), Silicon Data (GPU price indices), informal GPU broker/dealer networks
Key partnerships
Y Combinator (Summer 2026 batch), 212 (lead investor), inspection, shipping, insurance and financing partners integrated into the transaction flow (named partners not disclosed).
Major milestones
2026: founded and accepted to Y Combinator S26, launched live RFQ marketplace, $300M+ in RFQs in first month, Nov 2026: seed round led by 212 (amount undisclosed), 2027 plan: financial products for GPU price risk.
Growth metrics
Reported $300M+ in RFQs run through the book in the first month of operation (founder claim in YC launch post).
Market positioning
Early-stage 'market layer for AI hardware', aiming to become the price reference and exchange for physical AI hardware, with a CFTC-regulated risk-management venue as a longer-term goal.
Geographic focus
US-based; plans to expand into international markets.
About Berat Celik
Repeat founder; previously at Commure and Athelas; walked away from joining xAI to build Stoa full-time; B.Sc. Computer Science and Economics, University of British Columbia; M.Eng. Computer Science, Cornell University.
Latest news about Stoa
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Official website: https://www.stoaexchange.com