Founder-first
Every room, intro, report, and partner path should help builders get closer to the specific people who can change their trajectory.
About Roots
A network for the people building outside the obvious places.
Roots is built by Redbud VC to help Missouri compound what it already has: serious companies, gritty founders, technical talent, operator knowledge, and capital that should circulate locally before it leaves.
The belief is simple: access changes outcomes.
Columbia has already shown what happens when talent stays, operators reinvest, and companies grow from first principles. EquipmentShare, Zapier, CARFAX, Veterans United, Paytient, and other Missouri-built companies prove the market is not empty.
But one city is not enough. Roots exists to connect Kansas City, St. Louis, Columbia, Springfield, Rolla, and the broader Midwest into a network that is easier to navigate and harder to ignore.
Operator-led
Roots is shaped by people who have built and scaled companies from Missouri, not by people theorizing about ecosystems from far away.
Missouri first
The first market is focused because density matters. The network can grow Midwest and national after the core is strong.