Seed-stage VC, US

Root Ventures

Venture capital firm · San Francisco · Founded 2013

Quick read

Root Ventures is a seed-stage deep tech VC firm founded in 2013, headquartered in San Francisco, CA. It backs highly technical founders across tools and infrastructure, low-cost robotics and hardware, and data science. The fund is run by engineers and has deployed four funds, closing Fund IV at $190M.

Key facts

Founded
2013
Founders
Avidan Ross
Employees
1-10
Sectors
hardware, ai, devtools, enterprise
Website
root.vc

Investment thesis

Root Ventures backs the most technical founders at seed stage, concentrating on tools and infrastructure, low-cost robotics and hardware, and data science — writing early checks for engineer-led teams building deep tech.

Recent activity

  • 2026fundraise
    Root Ventures closed Fund IV at $190M, focused on seed-stage technical founders. The fund allows checks up to $5M across pre-seed, seed, and seed-extension rounds. New LPs include University of Chicago, Loyola, Adams Street, DuPont, Brown, and the State of New Mexico. everythingstartups.com
  • Mar 2026investment
    Root Ventures participated in Instrumental's $50M Series C round, led by BAM Elevate, with Canaan and Eclipse Ventures also participating. Instrumental builds manufacturing optimization software. zoominfo.com
  • 2026leadership
    Root Ventures posted an open associate role, with the firm noting the application process would reflect its engineering-first identity. linkedin.com
  • 2026investment
    Root Ventures co-invested in illoca's $13M Seed round alongside Bessemer Venture Partners, AIX Ventures, SH Fund, and Alt Capital. illoca is building Tracing Paper, an architectural design interface. linkedin.com
  • 2026investment
    Root Ventures backed AllSpice's latest round, which was led by Rethink Impact LP with L'ATTITUDE Ventures, GingerBread Capital, and DNX Ventures joining alongside existing investors including Benchstrength and Flybridge. linkedin.com
  • 2026investment
    Root Ventures participated in Quilter's $10M Series A, led by Benchmark with Coatue also joining. Quilter builds generative circuit board design software and is based in Los Angeles. zoominfo.com
  • 2024fundraise
    Root Ventures closed Fund IV at $190M, its largest fund to date, dedicated to seed-stage technical founders. The fund writes checks up to $5M across pre-seed, seed, and seed-extension rounds. New LPs include University of Chicago, Loyola, Adams Street, DuPont, Brown, and the State of New Mexico, alongside returning institutional backers. everythingstartups.com
  • Aug 2025investment
    Root Ventures participated in Zed Industries' Series B. Zed builds a multi-user code editor and has raised $32.4M in total funding. Co-investors include Sequoia Capital, Matchstick Ventures, Redpoint, and GitHub. vcbacked.co
  • 2024investment
    Root Ventures participated in AllSpice's funding round, which was led by Rethink Impact. Co-investors include L'ATTITUDE VENTURES, GingerBread Capital, DNX Ventures, Benchstrength, and Flybridge. AllSpice builds tooling for hardware engineering teams. linkedin.com
  • 2024investment
    Root Ventures participated in illoca's $13M seed round for its Tracing Paper architectural design product, led by Bessemer Venture Partners. Co-investors include AIX Ventures, SH Fund, and Alt Capital. linkedin.com
  • 2024leadership
    Root Ventures opened applications for an associate role, with a non-standard application process consistent with the firm's engineering-first culture. linkedin.com
  • Aug 2022fundraise
    Root Ventures announced Fund IV, a $190M vehicle to back technical founders at the earliest stages. linkedin.com

Notable investments

Key people

Named individuals at the firm. We don't expose direct email or phone — use their LinkedIn for outreach.

Sources

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Frequently asked

What is Root Ventures?+

Root Ventures is a seed-stage deep tech VC firm founded in 2013, headquartered in San Francisco, CA. It backs highly technical founders across tools and infrastructure, low-cost robotics and hardware, and data science.

Where is Root Ventures headquartered?+

Root Ventures is headquartered in San Francisco, United States.

When was Root Ventures founded?+

Root Ventures was founded in 2013 by Avidan Ross.

What sectors does Root Ventures invest in?+

Root Ventures focuses on hardware, ai, devtools, enterprise. They primarily invest in these sectors.

How do I prepare for a meeting with Root Ventures?+

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Generated by briefthecall.com from public web sources. Last updated July 22, 2026. Each claim is linked to its source above.

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