Pre-Seed Round · Now Open
Investing in the operating system for campus life, starting with HBCUs.
Rooted is a full campus community platform live on the App Store and Google Play, partnered with Howard University. We’re raising a pre-seed round to expand to new campuses.
Howard University
Partnered campus, 2026–27
Live Now
App Store & Google Play
$120K+ Raised
From Howard University & other sources
The opportunity.
Campus communities run on a patchwork of disconnected tools: paper elections, group chats, PDFs pinned to bulletin boards. Rooted replaces all of it with one platform, and HBCUs are the underserved starting point.
A full platform
Elections, social feed, events, org directory, announcements, dining, and admin tools. Rooted is the single app a campus actually needs, not one more app competing for a student’s attention.
Mission-aligned market entry
We’re building with HBCUs first, communities historically underserved by campus technology, with strong network effects across student government, Greek life, and alumni ties.
Proven
Howard University is a partnered campus for the 2026–27 academic year, de-risking the go-to-market model before this raise.
Founder-market fit
Founded by students who lived the problem, with deep ties into the HBCU ecosystem and a self-sustaining ambassador model built into the go-to-market motion.
How to invest.
A straightforward path from first conversation to closing your allocation in the round.
1
Intro Call
Meet the founders, hear the vision, and see the product live.
2
Deck & Data Room
Receive the pitch deck, financials, cap table, and product metrics.
3
Diligence
Reference calls with our university partner, product walkthrough, and team Q&A.
4
Term Sheet & Close
Finalize your allocation and close as part of the pre-seed round.
Founding team.
Complementary backgrounds, both fully bought into the mission.
Noah Adeyeye
Co-Founder
PhD student in Electrical & Computer Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, VTSI Scholar.
Jayson Johnson
Co-Founder
PhD student at Stanford University, Knight-Hennessy Scholar.
The ask
We’re raising a pre-seed round to expand Rooted to new HBCU campuses beyond Howard, building on live product traction, a real university partnership, and a repeatable pilot-to-partnership launch model. Reach out for the full deck and current round terms.
Frequently Asked Questions
What stage is this round?
What traction exists today?
What's the go-to-market model?
Is there an existing investor in the cap table?
How do I get started?