Women in emerging tech
Women build and fund what comes next.
Rooftop is a community for women in emerging tech and investing. Founded in 2023 and based in Seattle, it runs cohort programs and brings founders and investors into the same room. Women from 11 countries have taken part.
At a glance
Where it runs and who it is for.
- Founded
- 2023, in Seattle. Originally focused on blockchain, now across emerging technology wherever it is moving.
- Reach
- Women from 11 countries have taken part in Rooftop programs and events.
- Cohorts
- Three are running now — product management, engineering, and data science — each working on applied AI.
- Who it is for
- Technical and non-technical women. No background in tech or venture capital is assumed.
The model
Education, connection, activation.
A six-week cohort built on peer learning, mentor sessions, investment action goals, and community accountability.
Education
Learn it in your own field
The three cohorts running now are grouped by role, so a product manager, an engineer, and a data scientist each work on what applied AI changes about their own job.
Connection
Meet the people who move first
Peer groups and mentor sessions, on the argument that access and examples are the constraint more often than capability.
Activation
Take a step you would not take alone
Cohorts set investment action goals and hold each other to them, so the outcome is a decision made rather than a topic covered.
Convenings
Founders, investors, and builders in the same room.
Rooftop convenes the two sides of the same problem: who builds technology, and who funds it.
Seattle
Women's investor breakfast
A morning gathering for women investing in startups, across every career stage, from working investors to people making a first commitment. 108 attended.
With Wells Fargo
Founder:Funder lunch
A curated, invitation-only table: women founders with traction, actively raising in AI, deep tech, climate tech, and hardware, seated with women investors ahead of Seattle Tech Week. 40 attended.
With AI Tinkerers
Women in AI builders track
A practical engineering session for women building with AI — demos and working discussion rather than panels, running from August 2026.
Related
Where this sits in the rest of the work.
Capability area
Align capital
Who funds technology decides what gets built. Rooftop works on that pipeline directly, by bringing more women into investing.
Capability area
Support venture creation
Founder introductions, mentor sessions, and the network that helps a first raise happen at all.
Portfolio
The other initiatives
Applied AI and cyber pathways, executive AI leadership, and the funding structures around them.
Next step
Bring Rooftop to your market or sponsor a cohort.
Employers, funders, and ecosystem partners can host a convening, sponsor a cohort, or open a track in their own region.