Startup and First Stage Growth Equity Partner

TAPROOT Equity Funds was created to assist businesses at those two critical junctures where success at each stage will determine the future trajectory of the business.

OUR STORY

Who We Serve

We believe it’s always to your advantage to focus on what you know best, and we apply this principle to our investment portfolio. Based on the experiences of the core investment team, we currently focus on two market segments for our investments:

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PROFITABLE EXITS

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FINANCIAL PARTNERS

Why Choose Us

Why We Created TAPROOT

You’re like many entrepreneurs – you have a great idea and vision but are struggling to gain traction. Or maybe you’ve successfully launched a product/service and are under-capitalized to scale the busines.

We need to talk! TAPROOT Equity Funds was created to assist businesses at those two critical junctures where success at each stage will determine the future trajectory of the business.

While we have access to additional capital for larger investments, our typical investments range from $50K to $500K.

Who’s on the Team

TAPROOT Equity Funds is led by a team of seasoned executives who have each built successful businesses. When you partner with TAPROOT, you not only get the funding needed, but you’ll also get operating partners who have been where you are today and know how to make you successful.

Message from the CEO

First, congratulations on taking the gamble to start a business. I’ve been in your shoes many times, having launched a dozen companies and 20+ national and international product lines during my career. Each time I launched a new business, I was equal parts excitement and fear, but worked hard to stay focused on the excitement aspect – I hope you will as well. If we’re lucky enough to partner with you moving forward, you have my personal commitment that the TAPROOT team will do all it can to help your business become the biggest success possible. If we pass on your submission this time, please keep working to be successful. The number of times I’ve been told ‘no’ when raising capital exceeds the number of times I’ve heard ‘yes’ by a factor of ten. Stay the course and good things will come to you!

Keith Vargo
Chief Executive Officer
TAPROOT Equity Funds

The Process

As you can image, we receive a lot of requests for funding. We fund a small percentage of the requests received, and most are filtered out very early on. We state this not to scare you off, but to encourage you to do your homework, and put your best foot forward with your initial submission. Catch our attention early, and your chances of getting the funding needed improve tremendously!

What We Look for in Your Submission:

This is your time to shine! Please read this section carefully as you will need address ALL the following areas with your initial submission to secure a meeting with our investment team:

Tell us about you – what drives you and makes you happy.
Your experience with launching products / services and growing a business.
Your knowledge of the space you’re selling into.
Why you are passionate about the business.
Timeline to date: All you have accomplished with the business so far, with dates. If you are pre-revenue, that’s okay – be honest with us. If you are currently generating revenue, please provide revenue / expense details for the past 12 months.
If you have raised money already – let us know! It is critical for us to understand the ownership structure and any debt / equity obligations.
Why the business will succeed. Be honest here, tell us about the upside as well as risks / competition you face. We want to know what makes you better than the rest!
Your investment in the business to date – note of warning, do not monetize your hours invested in the business – if you do that, it’s a sure way to get declined.
Purpose of the funds with a realistic funding timeline (over what period of time you will use the funds).
We are committed to creating jobs in the USA – tell us how you plan to do this!
Provide details on any patents / trademarks you own that will help to protect your investment.

Get Started

Okay, let’s go! Please fill out the form and attach your submission. Please note, only Microsoft Word and PDF document submissions will be accepted. Also note, any submissions that are more than 10 pages in length will not be read – if it takes you more than 10 pages to get us excited about your business, then we’re not a good fit for you.

If we are interested in talking with you about your submission, you will generally hear back from us within 30 days of the submission. If you haven’t heard back from us by then, it means it’s a pass for now but best wishes for success with your business.

Good luck!