Stoa Markets Launches GPU and AI Server Exchange, Draws $300 Million in Requests in First Month

Stoa Markets, a startup from the Y Combinator accelerator (S26), has launched a specialized exchange for buying and selling new and used GPUs and AI servers. In its first month, the service received purchase requests for hardware worth more than $300 million in total.

Why GPU trading is still chaos

The market for data center GPU hardware is worth hundreds of billions of dollars, yet most deals are still closed manually: through phone calls, forwarded spreadsheets and long email chains. Stoa's founders, Eren, Berat and Kan, saw this firsthand when they started brokering GPU deals to learn how the market works. The process turned out to be far more manual than they expected.

In a single week, one seller quoted $200,000 for a server node, while another quoted $240,000 for an apparently identical configuration. Neither price was wrong: each seller saw only their own corner of the market. To compare offers, a buyer had to separately clarify configuration, condition, warranty, location and delivery terms. The label "H100 server" is as vague as "a used BMW" with no model year or mileage: without details, you cannot pin down a price.

Key facts about the state of the market, according to Stoa's founders:

• Prices for identical hardware vary by up to 20% between sellers ($200K vs. $240K for an identical server node)
• Deals are made without a standard format: through calls, spreadsheets and email threads
• Terms for GPU-backed loans depend on the tenant: a hyperscaler gets an investment-grade rating, while a startup gets expensive terms even with the same hardware as collateral
• Lenders have no access to real data on the market value of used servers, only price lists and one-off appraisals

How the Stoa marketplace works

Stoa standardizes the entire trading process. A buyer fills out a request for quote (RFQ) once, specifying the exact configuration, quantity, condition, warranty, location and delivery terms. The request automatically goes out to several dealers at once, all of whom have passed KYB (Know Your Business) verification: the platform verifies the company itself, its owners and its authorized representatives.

Dealers respond with firm price offers and cannot see competitors' bids. Once an offer is accepted, the platform tracks payment, logistics, delivery and acceptance inspection. Stoa itself does not take custody of the hardware.

"From the start we understood that this could not be a purely software marketplace.

GPU trading runs on relationships, and you don't show inventory to just anyone," the founders write in their official launch post on Hacker News.

Stoa makes money through a tiered fee on completed deals, with the rate falling as volumes grow. Signing up on the platform is free. All three founders have known each other for more than a decade. In that time, they have launched companies, traded interest rate derivatives and built trading systems for the oil and gas industry.

What this means

Stoa Markets is building an infrastructure layer the GPU hardware market has lacked: standardized pricing and a record of real transactions. For lenders, this means access to credible data on the market value of servers instead of price lists and one-off appraisals. If the format catches on, smaller cloud providers and startups could get GPU-backed financing on better terms, rather than overpaying because there are no market benchmarks.

Frequently asked questions

How much does Stoa Markets cost to use?

Signing up on the platform is free. Stoa charges a tiered fee only on completed deals, and the rate falls as volumes grow, so larger deals carry a lower percentage.

How does Stoa verify market participants?

The platform runs KYB (Know Your Business) verification on every participant: it verifies the legal entity, its beneficial owners and the employees authorized to make deals. This allows the platform to show requests for quote only to verified dealers.