Join Waitlist

Leverage your
roots to build

Roots is a social platform connecting founders, talent, investors, and enterprises.
— on the waitlist
Roots — the film

Talent is everywhere.
Network connectivity is not. The infrastructure to connect it all.

Opportunity0%+
of San Francisco unicorn founders are from another state or country.Redbud estimate

San Francisco is the best place to build because of the connectivity. With Roots, connectivity is available at home regardless if you leave or stay.

0%

of the top-20 most valuable U.S. unicorns have an immigrant founder.

0%

of California unicorn employees are not based in California.

0%

of the top-100 most valuable U.S. unicorns have a foreign-born founder — ≈77% of value (~$1.5T).

0%

of all U.S. unicorn founders were born outside the United States.
Outsider Roots

The largest and most important companies in the world were built by people who grew up with outsider roots.
Henry Nicholas
Henry Nicholas Broadcom Cincinnati, OH
Jack Dorsey
Jack Dorsey Block · Twitter St. Louis, MO
Brett Adcock
Brett Adcock Figure Moweaqua, IL
Sam Altman
Sam Altman OpenAI St. Louis, MO
Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett Berkshire Hathaway Omaha, NE
Marc Andreessen
Marc Andreessen a16z New Lisbon, WI
Sam Walton
Sam Walton Walmart Columbia, MO
Jensen Huang
Jensen Huang NVIDIA Thailand · Kentucky · Oregon
Elon Musk
Elon Musk SpaceX · Tesla Pretoria, South Africa
Larry Page
Larry Page Google East Lansing, MI
Social Platform

Where your
roots open
doors.

Network Graph

Enriched data on places, affinities, history, and connection strength.

AI Search

Semantically query your context enriched network and shared networks with AI.

Communities

Join groups and forums of alumni, industry, hometown, backers, or affinities.

Recruiting / Prospecting

Vetted talent and industry groups full of execs eager to support the next generation of company builders.

CRM / Enriched Data

Manage your enriched network inside the Roots platform with modern CRM tooling.

Events + Host

Invites to exclusive Roots based events and tools to host them in your city.
How it works

An app that turns your roots into your network.

01

Import

Add affinities/origins and import networks enriched by proprietary data

Import your LinkedIn connections

Install the Roots extension now. After your application is approved, you can sync your LinkedIn connections into Roots.

Waiting for the extension
Connections—Network—Communities—
Your connectionsSync to see who you already know
02

Connect

Share knowledge and networks in curated communities based on your roots

Hi Brett, query your network…
Start a post…
John DoeThe Grove4d
Product builders in Kansas City

I’m looking to meet product leaders and founders around Kansas City who are working on community, network, or collaboration tools.

4
Hemkesh AgrawalThe Grove5d
The most expensive restaurant problems are usually invisible

One restaurant did not need another dashboard. They needed someone to notice that the same ingredients were quietly arriving at different prices.

9
03

Find

Query a shared network with AI to source talent and partners

Search people — try “technical founders in Kansas City”
Try:
Connections502Network2.2kCommunities1
Zach Cook71% matchCo-founder at CredzuAlso in Columbia, MissouriCollin Hickey68% matchFull Stack Engineer at HOAfilingAlso in Columbia, MissouriMallory Sublette67% matchHead of Ops at Villageco.workAlso in Columbia, Missouri
04

Engage

Build a CRM, get intentional matches and intros, join/host events/discussions

Search by city, industry, or event…
Next Roots gatheringRoots | Chicago

Meet the builders modernizing legacy industries across Chicago and the Midwest.

Jul27Monday, July 27Chicago, IL · 4:30 PM CT
On the roadMore upcoming events3 stops ahead
Communities

Find your
Network.
Roots is for immigrants in San Francisco.
Construction
Midwest
University Alumni
Veterans
Ex-FAANG
Immigrants
+ many more
Built on Redbud
Redbud VC

Roots is built by Redbud VC — the early-stage fund founded in Columbia, Missouri, by the team behind EquipmentShare. Redbud's LPs include operators from Square, Meta, Zapier, and Veterans United. Our process is fast, founder-first, and built from thousands of conversations with builders who have outsider roots.

Starting with Redbud's network of 50,000 founders, execs, and investors.

Includes leaders from

EquipmentShare
O'Reilly Auto Parts
Square
Zapier
Veterans United Home Loans
Boeing
Upgrade
Mercy
ARCO National Construction

Capital is concentrated.
The country is not.

What if you could access SF level connectivity from anywhere?

Capital & Wealth

VC funding
0%
VC-backed companies
0%
Public companies
0%
Billionaires
0%
Millionaires
0%

The Real Economy

GDP
0%
STEM graduates
0%
Largest private companies
0%
New business formation
0%
Rest of U.S. CA · NY · MA

Sources: PitchBook-NVCA, Crunchbase, Forbes, Capgemini/Phoenix MI, U.S. BEA & Census, Redbud VC research · 2024–26

This is your
network.

Roots is built by Redbud VC — the early-stage fund founded in Columbia, Missouri, by the team behind EquipmentShare.
APPLY TO JOIN JOIN THE WAITLIST · EARLY ACCESS

FAQ

Who is Roots for?

Roots is for founders, operators, talent, investors, enterprise partners, and community builders who want warm, intentional access to people they can actually build with.

How does it work?
  1. Join. Download the app or sign up at roots.build. Tell us what you're building and what your roots are. We hand-pick who gets in.
  2. Bring your network. Upload your LinkedIn connections and Roots enriches the data — industries, roles, backgrounds, roots tags, and intent signals. Your existing network becomes searchable, queryable, and useful in ways LinkedIn never was.
  3. Share selectively. Choose which parts of your network to share with specific people or communities inside Roots. You control what's visible and to whom. Sharing unlocks access to other members' networks in return.
  4. Query the network with AI. Search the entire enriched network — yours and the ones shared with you — to find co-founders, customers, hires, and investors. Filter by roots, industry, skill, and intent. Get results in seconds, not months.
  5. Reach out or request an intro. Message directly or request a warm introduction through a trusted mutual. Every outreach on Roots is contextualized. No cold emails. No spray and pray.
  6. Build and join communities. Create or join communities organized around shared roots — your alumni network, your industry, your background, your city. Post, discuss, and engage with people who get it without explanation.
  7. Find and host events. Discover Roots Dinners, Innovation Summits, and community gatherings near you. Host your own and fill the room with exactly the right people.
  8. Access the knowledge base, credits & discounts. Tap into the collective intelligence of the network — resources, templates, playbooks, and community knowledge built by members for members. Plus exclusive credits and discounts from vetted service providers across legal, finance, recruiting, and more.
Is Roots an app?

Yes — Roots is available on iOS and Android as well as on the web at roots.build. Everything works across both. Download the app for the full experience, including event notifications, intro requests, and community discussions on the go.

What is Roots exactly?

Roots is a curated network for founders, builders, investors, enterprise partners, ecosystem builders, and vetted service providers. The platform connects people based on their roots — geography, alumni network, culture, industry, and lived experience — and helps members get warmer, faster access to customers, talent, and capital. Think of it as the network you've always needed but never had access to.

How is Roots different from LinkedIn?

LinkedIn connects you based on where you've worked. Roots connects you based on who you actually are and where you came from. Every connection on Roots is intentional — matched by shared roots, not algorithms and cold requests. And unlike LinkedIn, Roots enriches your network with AI so you can actually query it to find co-founders, customers, hires, and investors instead of just browsing a feed.

Does everyone who signs up get in?

Not immediately. We run an open waitlist and hand-pick who gets off it. We're building a high-quality, intentional community — not a directory. The more context you give us about your roots and what you're building, the better we can evaluate your fit.

Is my data safe?

Yes. Roots does not sell member data to third parties. Your network data is used only to enrich connections and enable search within the platform according to your sharing preferences.

Who can see my network?

You control exactly what you share and with whom. Network sharing is opt-in and selective — you choose which communities and members get access to your connections.

How does Roots make introductions?

Members can request warm introductions through trusted mutual connections, with context that helps both sides show up prepared.

Can companies use Roots?

Yes. Enterprise partners can find startups to partner with, invest in, recruit from, or learn from before those signals become obvious.

Can I build a community on Roots?

Yes. Roots is designed for communities around alumni networks, industries, backgrounds, regions, and shared lived experience.

What happens after I join the waitlist?

We use the waitlist to understand your roots, your goals, and where you can create or receive the most useful network density.

It's about time
networks are open-sourced.

Roots is built by Redbud VC — the early-stage fund founded in Columbia, Missouri, by the team behind EquipmentShare (top-25 YC and Nasdaq-listed $EQPT).

APPLY TO JOIN JOIN THE WAITLIST · EARLY ACCESS
Roots