Inspiration

Rooted is inspired to empower women to invest confidently with an all-in-one platform, interact with community support, and grow her financial future.

What it does

AI Investment Assistant (Bud): A 24/7 chat that answers investing questions in plain language, grounded in your own mock portfolio — building confidence without ever telling you what to buy. Paper Trading: $10,000 in practice cash to buy and sell real women-led public stocks with zero financial risk, so the first trade you ever make isn't with your rent money. Mock Fidelity: A realistic brokerage account view synced from your paper trades, so reading real holdings and allocations feels familiar before you ever open a real account. Startups Directory: A YC-style, filterable directory of women-founded startups to discover, support, or even join. Forum: A community space to ask questions and build reputation by helping others further along the path.

How we built it

React base (Javascript, HTML, CSS) with VsCode
Gemini API and Supabase API keys to implement Bud and the database for the user profile
Marketaux API for news in dashboard

Challenges we ran into

Our biggest challenge was privacy and security. We originally planned to connect directly to Fidelity accounts, but due to privacy concerns, this wasn’t possible. A Fidelity associate recommended creating a mock account environment instead—so we built a fully simulated Fidelity experience that allows users to practice trading and explore features without risking personal data. This challenge ultimately made Rooted stronger: it gave us the freedom to design a beginner‑friendly interface without being limited by existing constraints.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Clean, easy to navigate UI
Features that work effectively
Completing the website within a short time constraint

What we learned

Throughout this project, we learned how deeply design impacts confidence. We discovered that beginner investors—especially women—benefit from clear pathways, community support, and tools that explain concepts without assuming prior knowledge. We also learned how to translate real user pain points into features like guided investment journeys, mock salary negotiations, and an AI assistant so users can have an all-in-one investing platform.