Zoltán Tóth-Czifra

Software engineer & startup founder
Currently splitting time between Barcelona and Kyoto

Latest in blog

• Singular Learning Theory: AI learns like ice melts Feb 26, 2026

Current Research Interests

User-Centered Programming Interfaces • AI Safety, Alignment and Interpretability

Education

• University of Oxford (2021-2025)
  MSc in Software Engineering, graduated with Distinction
  Dissertation: Using transformers to train an image-to-code machine learning model [PDF]
• University of London, Goldsmiths' College (2017-2020)
  BSc in Computing and Information Systems, First Class Honours
  Final project: Privacy-improving service architecture [PDF]

Publications & Patents

• Reverse Browser: Vector-Image-to-Code Generator
  arXiv preprint, 2025
• Recombinant proteins and their use in cancer therapy
  Patent WO2025088037 (co-inventor), 2023

Professional Experience

• Gleipnir Medical - Founder & CEO (2021-2024)
  🏆 Startup of the Year, Catalonia 2022 [Link]
  Led biotechnology research in sustainable protein production and cancer therapy. The company filed three patents and founded consortium with Abbott and Wageningen University. Besides private funding, we raised 500,000+ EUR from public grants. The company closed in 2024.
• Under Lucky Stars - Founder & CEO (2016-2022)
  Built astronomical mapping software (NASA astronomer audited) and e-commerce platform and created a whole new product category of commemorative astronomical maps. Generated $25M+ revenue, over 400,000 orders fulfilled globally. Acquired in 2022
• Trifecta Retail Ventures - Chief Product Officer (2013-2018)
  Led product development and engineering talent management
• Softonic - Architecture Engineer (2009-2013)
  Built web application serving over 1 billion monthly pageviews

Other Activities

• Angel Investor - Active investor in SaaS and food technology companies
• Zoltan's FLOPs GPU Mini-Grant - Founded grant program to support students and researchers with GPU resources [Learn more]

Misc

• V-Label Food Hero
• Forbes Hungary Front Page (twice): Article 1 • Article 2
• Startup Grind fireside chat (2022) (video)
• I built ChatGPT into my rotary phone and made it sound German (video)
• Medium (not updated)

Personal

Triplet ♥♥♥. Pink kitty watch enthusiast. 🍺 Untappd uniques: 2,262 (current favorites: Lupulin Nectar, Uchu Brewing, SOMA Beer, Garage Beer).

Languages: Hungarian (native), English (fluent), Spanish (fluent). A bit of German, Japanese, Polish.
Special places in my heart: Finland, Poland, Minnesota, Nice, Cegléd, Tiszakécske
Causes I support: Children's education (especially in computers), animal welfare, freedom of press, progressive politics