Root Ventures is a seed-stage venture capital firm backing deeply technical founders building at the intersection of engineering, software and hard technology. Founded and led by investors who identify first and foremost as builders and engineers, Root Ventures brings a hands-on, technical perspective to early-stage company creation. The firm focuses on founders solving complex, unconventional and category-defining problems, staying close to product, engineering culture and the earliest stages of development.
Root Ventures invests in seed-stage startups led by technical founding teams building software, hardware, developer tools and emerging technologies.
The firm focuses on hard engineering challenges, infrastructure software, robotics, AI-driven systems, and other areas where deep technical insight is essential.
While sector-flexible, Root Ventures is most active where engineering ambition meets practical application.
Root Ventures has raised its fourth fund, a 190 million dollar seed fund dedicated to supporting technical founders from the earliest stages. Fund 4 allows the firm to write checks of up to 5 million dollars at any phase that includes the word “seed,” covering pre-seed, seed and seed-extension rounds. The raise was completed during a challenging fundraising environment and includes new limited partners such as University of Chicago, Loyola, Adams Street, DuPont, Brown and the State of New Mexico, alongside returning institutional backers.
Root Ventures maintains its commitment to early technical founders, using the scale of Fund 4 to deepen support in product, engineering hiring, technical validation and early go-to-market readiness.
The firm continues to operate as a boutique, hands-on seed investor, expanding its capacity while preserving its technical-first culture.
Leadership
Root Ventures is led by general partner Lee Edwards, who announced Fund 4, alongside founding partner Avidan Ross. The partnership also includes Kane Hsieh, Chrissy Meyer, Zodi Chalat and Ben Lovell, forming a team of investors with deep engineering, hardware, product and operational backgrounds. Their approach reflects the firm’s origin as a builder-led fund focused on being close to technical problem-solving. Currently, specific contact details for Root Ventures are not publicly available.
Investment Strategy
Root Ventures follows a craftsmanship-style investment strategy rooted in engineering rigor, technical depth and close founder collaboration. The firm invests at the earliest stage, often before product, revenue or commercial traction, prioritizing founders who have the ability to build breakthrough technologies from first principles. Root Ventures stays small and focused to remain deeply involved in shaping product direction, early technical hires and validation of engineering roadmaps. Their strategy centers on backing “wonky” companies solving hard, systemic problems—favoring contrarian ideas, deep technical moats and founders who thrive at the edge of technological possibility.
Notable Investments
The firm has invested in a wide range of technical startups, including creator infrastructure platform Beehiiv, online casino and gaming company Betty Labs, sports media company Overtime, AI search engine Perplexity and home fitness hardware startup Tonal. These investments illustrate the firm’s broad interest in engineering-heavy companies spanning software, media, AI, hardware and connected consumer systems.
Notable Exits
Root Ventures has not publicly disclosed specific major exits related to the recent fund announcement. The firm’s prior portfolio includes companies that have achieved scaling milestones across software, AI and connected hardware, with several previous investments becoming category leaders in their markets.
Other
Root Ventures is highly selective and prefers partnering with teams that are building from first principles, including complex hardware systems, deep infrastructure, robotics, developer tools and AI-enabled products.
The firm’s culture is distinctly builder-oriented: partners spend significant time helping founders debug problems, refine technical architectures and shape engineering culture. Root Ventures does not emphasize thematic verticals but instead focuses on technical excellence and ambitious problem selection.
With a larger seed fund and a strengthened LP base, Root Ventures remains one of the most respected technical seed investors in the United States.
United States
