Only recruiting math geniuses, 30 people capturing 30% of the European electricity trading market! How did this quant company achieve that?

If you step into the headquarters of Second Foundation in Prague, you’ll think you’ve wandered into a sci-fi fan club or a training camp preparing for the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO).

There’s no hustle and bustle of traditional trading floors or ringing phones—only the sound of keyboard typing. Yet, it’s precisely this company, composed of a group of math geniuses obsessed with puzzle games, that has risen rapidly in just five years to dominate Europe’s most unpredictable electricity trading market.

When science fiction becomes reality: This is a “Second Foundation”

The name Second Foundation is taken from the third book in Isaac Asimov’s classic sci-fi series “Galactic Empire: Foundation.”

In Asimov’s universe, the smartest scientists gather on “Terminus,” while a secret organization called the “Second Foundation,” led by a powerful mentalist known as the “First Speaker,” secretly controls everything.

This real-world company perfectly replicates the setting from the novel. Every new employee receives a copy of the “Foundation” novel; the company’s meeting rooms are named “Terminus”; and co-founder and CEO Vojtech Kacena is even jokingly called the “First Speaker” within the company.

But this is not just a geek’s romantic fantasy; it’s also at the core of their corporate culture. Kacena openly states they seek “prodigies” who have honed top-tier analytical skills through the IMO. He even proudly claims that Second Foundation has more Eastern European IMO gold medalists than the renowned quant giants Citadel and Jane Street.

“We hire many talented but sometimes a bit lost individuals,” Kacena says, “and we give them a goal.”

In this company, team-building activities aren’t about drinking and dining—they’re all-night “puzzle competitions”—a group of people wearing headlamps cracking codes on the streets of Prague. Even the first thing on Monday morning is a collective effort to solve a difficult math problem discovered over the weekend.

30 traders, commanding 30% of Europe’s market

If you think this is just a bunch of mathematicians having fun, you’re very mistaken.

In five years, Second Foundation has expanded to 28 markets, handling nearly 30% of Europe’s short-term electricity market volume. In 2024, the company’s net profit reached €110 million, and it’s projected to hit €150 million in 2025, with an annual compound growth rate of 30% to 50%.

The reason for such impressive results is their complete disruption of traditional trading models.

With the surge of renewable energy, Europe’s electricity market has become extremely volatile. Fluctuations in wind and solar power can cause electricity prices to spike to €1000 per megawatt-hour or plummet into negative territory. In this battlefield where milliseconds determine advantage, human reaction speed can’t keep up—algorithms are king.

Unlike traditional commodity traders who focus on “trader-centric” structures, Second Foundation claims to be a “tech company.”

Out of 420 employees, only about 30 are traders. Who are the rest? 100 data analysts and 150 software developers.

“We don’t need superstar traders who can command the market,” Kacena says, “we succeed through technology.”

To predict short-term electricity prices, their algorithms analyze millions of data points in real time—from wind speed and cloud cover to satellite images and grid flow. Whoever has the best data, the strongest models, and the fastest execution wins.

Using “The Three-Body Problem” to combat volatility: The core weapon “Sophon”

Second Foundation’s core weapon is a low-latency trading software called “Sophon” (智子).

This name is familiar to readers—it pays homage to Liu Cixin’s sci-fi masterpiece “The Three-Body Problem.” In that fictional universe, “Sophon” is an all-powerful supercomputer. At Second Foundation, this same-named system is their crown jewel.

The system was developed by two other co-founders, Jaromir Satanek and Petr Postulka. They previously built algorithmic trading platforms for hedge funds and banks, until Kacena persuaded them: “Instead of selling the system to others, why not use it ourselves to trade?”

To maintain this technological edge, their hiring process is also full of geeky flair. Last November, the company hosted a 24-hour sci-fi-themed hacker marathon, requiring participants to design high-performance backend trading systems in a fictional “cosmic energy infrastructure” universe.

And it worked. Patrick Reynolds, founder of headhunter firm NordSearch, commented: “We are witnessing a new era of short-term electricity trading. Algorithm-driven strategies are changing how companies recruit, with quantitative experts gradually replacing traditional fundamental traders.”

Ambitions beyond: from batteries to nuclear power plants and stock markets

Although they’ve established a foothold in Europe’s electricity market and are among the top three in the U.S. market, this group of math geniuses has even bigger ambitions.

Their next big move is to enter the battery energy storage sector, planning to deploy up to 5 gigawatts of projects in Germany, Japan, Romania, and Finland. Kacena even has a “crazy dream”—owning a nuclear power plant.

Interestingly, many hedge funds first develop algorithms in the stock market and then expand into energy. But Second Foundation wants to do the opposite.

“For me, the stock market is like the Champions League (the highest level of competition),” Kacena admits. Although they are still accumulating capital and data, he doesn’t hide their future plans to venture into stock trading.

But before that, this group of mathematicians, inspired by Asimov and obsessed with “The Three-Body Problem,” remains Europe’s most formidable invisible giant. They prove with code: in this fast-changing era, as long as you can compute fast enough, you can control the “Foundation.”

Risk warning and disclaimer

Market risks exist; investments should be cautious. This article does not constitute personal investment advice and does not consider individual users’ specific investment goals, financial situations, or needs. Users should consider whether any opinions, viewpoints, or conclusions in this article are suitable for their particular circumstances. Invest at your own risk.