diff --git a/backend/app/Controllers/SetController.php b/backend/app/Controllers/SetController.php
index 6fcbb8c..37b846f 100644
--- a/backend/app/Controllers/SetController.php
+++ b/backend/app/Controllers/SetController.php
@@ -3,15 +3,23 @@
 namespace App\Controllers;
 
 use App\Element\ElementRepository;
+use App\Exceptions\BadRequestException;
 use App\Set\Set as DomainSet;
 use App\Set\SetRepository;
+use App\Set\UseCases\CreateSetWithRoot\CreateSetWithRoot;
+use App\Set\UseCases\CreateSetWithRoot\CreateSetWithRootRequest;
+use App\Shared\Files\Filesystem;
 use Illuminate\Http\JsonResponse;
+use Illuminate\Http\Request;
+use Illuminate\Http\UploadedFile;
 
 class SetController
 {
     public function __construct(
         private SetRepository $setRepository,
         private ElementRepository $elementRepository,
+        private CreateSetWithRoot $createSetWithRoot,
+        private Filesystem $filesystem,
     ) {
     }
 
@@ -27,6 +35,32 @@ class SetController
         ], 200);
     }
 
+    public function create(Request $request): JsonResponse
+    {
+        $iconImage = $this->uploadedFileInput($request, 'iconImage');
+
+        try {
+            $set = $this->createSetWithRoot->execute(
+                new CreateSetWithRootRequest(
+                    name: $this->stringInput($request, 'name'),
+                    description: $this->stringInput($request, 'description'),
+                    iconImageContents: $iconImage['contents'],
+                    iconImageOriginalName: $iconImage['originalName'],
+                    iconImageMimeType: $iconImage['mimeType'],
+                    iconImageSizeBytes: $iconImage['sizeBytes'],
+                )
+            );
+        } catch (BadRequestException $exception) {
+            return new JsonResponse([
+                'error' => $exception->getMessage(),
+            ], 400);
+        }
+
+        return new JsonResponse([
+            'set' => $this->buildSetPayload($set),
+        ], 201);
+    }
+
     /**
      * @return array{
      *     id: int,
@@ -44,8 +78,77 @@ class SetController
             'id' => $set->getId(),
             'name' => $set->getName(),
             'description' => $set->getDescription(),
-            'iconImageUrl' => $set->getIconImageUrl(),
+            'iconImageUrl' => $this->storageUrl(
+                $set->getIconImageUrl(),
+                'set-icons/',
+            ),
             'rootElementId' => $rootElement?->getId(),
         ];
     }
+
+    private function stringInput(Request $request, string $key): ?string
+    {
+        if (! $request->exists($key)) {
+            return null;
+        }
+
+        $value = $request->input($key);
+        if ($value === null) {
+            return '';
+        }
+
+        if (! is_string($value)) {
+            return null;
+        }
+
+        return $value;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @return array{
+     *     contents: string|null,
+     *     originalName: string|null,
+     *     mimeType: string|null,
+     *     sizeBytes: int|null
+     * }
+     */
+    private function uploadedFileInput(Request $request, string $key): array
+    {
+        $emptyFileInput = [
+            'contents' => null,
+            'originalName' => null,
+            'mimeType' => null,
+            'sizeBytes' => null,
+        ];
+
+        if (! $request->hasFile($key)) {
+            return $emptyFileInput;
+        }
+
+        $file = $request->file($key);
+        if (! $file instanceof UploadedFile) {
+            return $emptyFileInput;
+        }
+
+        $realPath = $file->getRealPath();
+        if ($realPath === false) {
+            return $emptyFileInput;
+        }
+
+        return [
+            'contents' => (string) file_get_contents($realPath),
+            'originalName' => $file->getClientOriginalName(),
+            'mimeType' => (string) $file->getMimeType(),
+            'sizeBytes' => (int) $file->getSize(),
+        ];
+    }
+
+    private function storageUrl(string $path, string $folderPrefix): string
+    {
+        if (str_starts_with($path, $folderPrefix)) {
+            return $this->filesystem->url($path);
+        }
+
+        return $path;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/backend/app/Set/UseCases/CreateSetWithRoot/CreateSetWithRoot.php b/backend/app/Set/UseCases/CreateSetWithRoot/CreateSetWithRoot.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9d9c98d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/app/Set/UseCases/CreateSetWithRoot/CreateSetWithRoot.php
@@ -0,0 +1,106 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace App\Set\UseCases\CreateSetWithRoot;
+
+use App\Element\CreateElementDto;
+use App\Element\ElementRepository;
+use App\Exceptions\BadRequestException;
+use App\Set\CreateSetDto;
+use App\Set\Set;
+use App\Set\SetRepository;
+use App\Shared\Files\FileToUpload;
+use App\Shared\Files\Filesystem;
+
+class CreateSetWithRoot
+{
+    private const ALLOWED_MIME_TYPES = [
+        'image/jpeg',
+        'image/png',
+        'image/webp',
+    ];
+
+    private const MAX_SIZE_BYTES = 5 * 1024 * 1024;
+
+    public function __construct(
+        private SetRepository $setRepository,
+        private ElementRepository $elementRepository,
+        private Filesystem $filesystem,
+    ) {
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @throws BadRequestException
+     */
+    public function execute(CreateSetWithRootRequest $request): Set
+    {
+        if ($request->name === null || $request->name === '') {
+            throw new BadRequestException('name is required');
+        }
+        if ($request->description === null || $request->description === '') {
+            throw new BadRequestException('description is required');
+        }
+
+        $iconPath = $this->uploadIconImage($request);
+        $set = $this->setRepository->create(new CreateSetDto(
+            name: $request->name,
+            description: $request->description,
+            iconImageUrl: $iconPath,
+        ));
+
+        $this->elementRepository->create(new CreateElementDto(
+            set: $set,
+            title: $set->getName(),
+            description: $set->getDescription(),
+            iconImageUrl: $iconPath,
+            richText: '',
+            shortPdfPath: null,
+            longPdfPath: null,
+            youtubeUrl: null,
+            parentElement: null,
+        ));
+
+        return $set;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @throws BadRequestException
+     */
+    private function uploadIconImage(CreateSetWithRootRequest $request): string
+    {
+        if (
+            $request->iconImageContents === null
+            || $request->iconImageOriginalName === null
+            || $request->iconImageMimeType === null
+            || $request->iconImageSizeBytes === null
+        ) {
+            throw new BadRequestException('icon image is required');
+        }
+
+        if (
+            ! in_array(
+                $request->iconImageMimeType,
+                self::ALLOWED_MIME_TYPES,
+                true,
+            )
+        ) {
+            throw new BadRequestException(
+                'icon image must be a jpeg, png or webp image',
+            );
+        }
+
+        if ($request->iconImageSizeBytes > self::MAX_SIZE_BYTES) {
+            throw new BadRequestException(
+                'icon image must be 5MB or smaller',
+            );
+        }
+
+        $iconImage = new FileToUpload(
+            contents: $request->iconImageContents,
+            originalName: $request->iconImageOriginalName,
+            mimeType: $request->iconImageMimeType,
+            sizeBytes: $request->iconImageSizeBytes,
+        );
+
+        return $this->filesystem->upload($iconImage, 'set-icons');
+    }
+}
diff --git a/backend/app/Set/UseCases/CreateSetWithRoot/CreateSetWithRootRequest.php b/backend/app/Set/UseCases/CreateSetWithRoot/CreateSetWithRootRequest.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..166a901
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/app/Set/UseCases/CreateSetWithRoot/CreateSetWithRootRequest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace App\Set\UseCases\CreateSetWithRoot;
+
+class CreateSetWithRootRequest
+{
+    public function __construct(
+        public ?string $name,
+        public ?string $description,
+        public ?string $iconImageContents,
+        public ?string $iconImageOriginalName,
+        public ?string $iconImageMimeType,
+        public ?int $iconImageSizeBytes,
+    ) {
+    }
+}
diff --git a/backend/routes/api.php b/backend/routes/api.php
index 82a3af4..970571b 100644
--- a/backend/routes/api.php
+++ b/backend/routes/api.php
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ Route::post('/logout', [AuthController::class, 'logout']);
 Route::get('/me', [AuthController::class, 'me'])
     ->middleware(AuthMiddleware::class);
 Route::get('/sets', [SetController::class, 'index']);
+Route::post('/sets', [SetController::class, 'create'])
+    ->middleware(AuthMiddleware::class);
 Route::get('/elements/{id}', [ElementController::class, 'show']);
 Route::get('/element-pdfs/{folder}/{fileName}', [
     ElementController::class,