# Joe Root

> Joe Root is the co-founder and CEO of Permutive, a publisher audience and data collaboration platform. A computing graduate of Imperial College London with a master’s from Oxford, he built the business with Tim Spratt and participated in Y Combinator’s Summer 2014 batch. His public work focuses on publisher revenue, consumer privacy and advertising built around first-party signals.

- **Role:** Co-founder and CEO at Permutive
- **Organizations:** Permutive, Founders Pledge
- **Education:** BEng, Computing, Imperial College London, MSc, Computer Science, University of Oxford, PhD studies; left before completion, University of Cambridge
- **Known for:** Co-founded Permutive with Tim Spratt., Built a company backed by Entrepreneur First and Y Combinator., Led Permutive through its $75 million Series C in November 2021.

## Career timeline

- **2007-2009** — Software engineering internships at QinetiQ.
- **2010-2011** — Internships in software engineering and sales and trading at Morgan Stanley.
- **2013** — Worked in product at Pact Coffee and in sales at GoCardless.
- **2014** — Founded Permutive with Tim Spratt; participated in Y Combinator Summer 2014.
- **2021** — Permutive raised a $75 million Series C led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2.
- **2025** — Permutive introduced its Halo advertising agent suite.
- **2026** — Continues as CEO, emphasizing agency connections and publisher signal activation.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Permutive with Tim Spratt.
- Built a company backed by Entrepreneur First and Y Combinator.
- Led Permutive through its $75 million Series C in November 2021.

## Latest updates

- **2026-10** — Permutive appointed former LiveRamp executive David Rifkin general manager, demand side sales.
- **2026-09** — Permutive announced a TransUnion audience activation integration.
- **2026-08** — Discussed agency AI systems and direct publisher connections at Beet Retreat Berkshires.

## Links

- Website: https://permutive.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephsroot
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/joeroot

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/joe-root-permutive
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-25