Root Ventures®

Before you begin

If any parts appear bent, missing, or pre-seed, do not return to retailer. Email service (Sheet 9).

Tools required

Included in the box. Do not substitute.

1. T-01 Avidan Ross Managing Partner · Allen key, long arm

   Founding partner. Previously designed industrial robotics for Food Network's kitchens; CTO at CIM Group; embedded apps at Excite@Home. BA Computer Science, Columbia.

2. T-02 Kane Hsieh Partner · Phillips driver, #2

   Founder and Head of Product at Brilliant Bicycle Co. Early stage at RRE Ventures, engineer at Romotive, PM at Microsoft. AB Computer Science, Harvard.

3. T-03 Chrissy Meyer Partner · Calipers, electronic

   Decade shipping hardware as EM at Apple and Square. Founding team at Pearl Automation. MS Electrical Engineering, Stanford; BSEE Rose-Hulman.

4. T-04 Lee Edwards Partner · Mallet, soft-faced

   CTO at Teespring. Mechanical engineer at iRobot, SWE at Pivotal Labs, Lead Engineer at SideTour (acq. Groupon), EM for GrouponLive. Olin Engineering.

5. T-05 Zodi Chalat Associate · Spirit level

   ML infrastructure engineer at Netflix before moving into venture. CS and comparative literature, Yale.

6. T-06 Ben Lovell Head of Operations · Torque wrench

   Operational automation and data pipelines at a16z, Menlo Ventures, FT Partners. Cofounded an adtech startup for rideshare. BA Stanford.

7. T-07 Laelah Reino Operations Manager · Tape measure

   15+ years in marketing for film, consumer products, subscription services. BA Business Administration (Marketing), Drexel.

Tools T-01 through T-07 form a complete set. Hand-tighten only. Do not over-torque founders.

Parts inventory — sheet A (devtools, data, AI)

Verify all parts before assembly. If a part is missing, do not panic. We rarely lose track of our parts.

• P-001Meroxa×1Data engineering infrastructure built with one command.
• P-002HASH×1Open-source self-building database for a typed graph of entities.
• P-003Superconductive×1Data integrity verified and enforced across the lifecycle.
• P-004Okteto×1Ephemeral dev environments for actual developers.
• P-005Privacy Dynamics×1Customer data privacy without slowing the team down.
• P-006IaSQL×1Infra-as-a-database. Stateless config files dismissed.
• P-007Daily×1Video for developers, dropped into websites and apps.
• P-008Zed×1Fully-native desktop editor. Fast. Real-time collaborative.
• P-009SuperTokens×1Open-source authentication that engineers actually deploy.
• P-010Fudge×1Website performance, conversion side-effect.
• P-011Aperture Data×1Database purpose-built for images, video, and ML.
• P-012Trieve×1Infrastructure for shipping AI search into applications.
• P-013Kodra×1Fast dataset curation for machine learning.
• P-014Patterns×1Tools and infrastructure for modern AI applications.
• P-015Subtrace×1Every HTTP request in and out of your production backend, traced.
• P-016Sublayer×1AI-assisted coding the way you actually code.
• P-017Nullify×1Product security tasks running alongside the developers.
• P-018Determinate Systems×1Enterprise-grade Nix package management.
• P-019Hunch×1Collaborative data exploration for non-technical users.
• P-020Adept×1Useful general intelligence.
• P-021Breakpoint AI×1Computer-vision failure detection and re-training.
• P-022Loopwork×1The next generation of agents.

Parts inventory — sheet B (hardware, robotics, machines)

Heavy. Lift with the legs, not the cap table.

• P-023Esper×1DevOps for devices. Enterprise hardware, fleet-managed.
• P-024Particle×1The largest professional IoT development platform.
• P-025Nautilus Labs×1Shipping routes and energy costs, optimized live for maritime fleets.
• P-026nTopology×1The future of mechanical engineering software.
• P-027Tortuga AgTech×1Robotic harvesters for high-value produce.
• P-028Instrumental×1Real-time insights for mass manufacturing.
• P-029Stellar Pizza×1Automated food production. Pizza-shaped.
• P-030Versatile×1Onsite construction data for accelerated schedules.
• P-031Dusty Robotics×1Layout robots for complex construction sites.
• P-032ThruWave×1Logistics throughput, made transparent.
• P-033Seismic×1Soft robotics that augment worker strength.
• P-034Seam×1An API for managing building systems.
• P-035ChargeLab×1API- and software-defined EV charging networks.
• P-036Wildtype Foods×1Organic, clean, animal-free meat.
• P-037Nordsense×1Pickup routes optimized for waste management fleets.
• P-038TruckLabs×1Long-haul trucking fuel costs, reduced.
• P-039Sensable×1Real-time industrial engineering insights.
• P-040Crux×1Critical energy infrastructure, automated.
• P-041Mashgin×1Self-checkout that actually works.
• P-042Creator×1Fully autonomous hamburger robots.
• P-043ApolloShield×1Airspace safety from autonomous and remote-piloted aircraft.
• P-044Skycatch×1High-resolution 3D mapping for high-value infrastructure.

Parts inventory — sheet C (deep tech, biology, design tools)

Some parts in this section require additional R&D. Provided gloves are non-conductive.

• P-045Shaper×1Origin: a handheld, auto-correcting CNC tool.
• P-046Cape×1Enterprise networks monitored, tested, repaired remotely.
• P-047Righthook×1Autonomous vehicle development, less time, less cost.
• P-048SixWheel×1Autonomy and electrification for long-haul trucking.
• P-049Radical Semiconductor×1Hardware security down to the individual IC.
• P-050Kayhan×1Spaceflight ops platform for satellite operators.
• P-051AllSpice×1Collaboration and testing for hardware teams.
• P-052Quilter×1Automated design tools for electrical engineers.
• P-053Topologic×1Design and automation software for textile manufacturing.
• P-054Ruby Robotics×1Robotics and AI for autonomous tissue biopsy.
• P-055Instance×1The fastest way to synthesize DNA.
• P-056CADY Solutions×1Electrical schematic analysis, automated.
• P-057Gen Alpha×1Copilots for analog and mixed-signal chip design.
• P-058Illoca×1Generative AI for commercial architecture and AEC.
• P-059Integrated Biosciences×1Optogenetics + ML for neurodegenerative and age-related disease drugs.
• P-060Latent Technology×1Life-like 3D assets for animators and game developers.
• P-061Digichem×1Custom molecules, prototyped and manufactured online.
• P-062Feather×1FEA that runs in the browser.
• P-063Vibe Robotics×1Novel programming interfaces for robotics, from Kai Backman and Luke Church.

Assembly procedure

1. 1.

   Identify the technical founder. Confirm engineering risk is present. If the founder is solving a market problem with no engineering risk, this part does not fit our chassis.

2. 2.

   Mount tools T-01 through T-05 to the part. Lead with the partner whose tool matches the geometry. Adjacent partners stabilize.

3. 3.

   Insert a single check (per-unit, $3M–$5M). Hold pressure for one funding round. Two thirds of pack reserved for follow-on torque.

4. 4.

   Apply T-06 and T-07 to operations. Light loads only. Repeat steps 1–3 a selective few times per annum.

5. 5.

   Park completed assembly outside 2670 Harrison St, San Francisco, CA 94110. Inspect for square. Tighten quarterly board cadence.

Warranty & help wanted

Tip: removing the small Allen wrench from the box and pretending you don't have it is a recognized failure mode. We will find another one.

Other models in this catalogue

Previously printed sheets are kept in the binder. We never lose track of a manual.

Root Ventures · hello@root.vc · 2670 Harrison St, San Francisco, CA 94110 · Est. 2015

Reorder code AA-2015 · EN · © Root Ventures · No batteries. No serifs. No board observers.