The venture capital landscape, traditionally concentrated in coastal technology hubs, is undergoing a significant transformation. At the forefront of this shift is Mike Moradi, co-founder and general partner of Cortado Ventures. Based in Oklahoma City, Cortado Ventures is not just another investment firm; it represents a compelling thesis that challenges conventional wisdom about where innovation originates and how it should be nurtured. The firm focuses on seed-stage frontier technology companies across the U.S. Midcontinent, operating under the conviction that the most impactful founders are often those deeply embedded within the critical industries they seek to revolutionize. This approach is reshaping perceptions of American innovation, demonstrating that talent and groundbreaking ideas are geographically unbounded, awaiting the right combination of capital, expertise, and network to flourish.
The Genesis of a Founder-First Philosophy: Mike Moradi’s Entrepreneurial Journey
Mike Moradi’s journey into venture capital is deeply rooted in his extensive and often challenging experiences as a founder. Before co-founding Cortado Ventures, Moradi was a six-time entrepreneur, building and leading companies in technically complex sectors such as biopharmaceuticals and nanotechnology. His early career path took an unconventional turn when he left dental school to launch his first startup. This initial venture, like many first attempts, ultimately failed. However, instead of deterring him, the setback instilled a crucial lesson in resilience. Moradi reflects on this period, emphasizing the importance of unwavering persistence: "The lesson was to keep pushing past every obstacle, to not be discouraged by hearing the word ‘no,’ and to stay the course." This foundational experience shaped his understanding that entrepreneurial success is often a testament to sheer willpower and an ability to navigate adversity.
Following this initial failure, Moradi’s subsequent ventures saw greater success. One company experienced rapid growth and was acquired by a Fortune 100 corporation, a significant validation of his entrepreneurial acumen. Later, a San Francisco Bay Area venture also achieved an acquisition, though not without significant challenges. This particular company nearly collapsed even after securing a substantial $18 million Series B financing round. This near-failure provided another profound insight: while capital can indeed accelerate a company’s trajectory, speed itself is only beneficial when the business is on the correct path and truly prepared for scale. Moradi distilled this lesson into a cautionary principle, observing, "A high valuation and a full bank account will happily let you scale the wrong thing." This experience underscored the critical need for founders to pair entrepreneurial optimism with rigorous evidence, disciplined execution, and a clear understanding of the next crucial milestones a company must achieve.
These firsthand encounters with both the triumphs and tribulations of company building directly informed the foundational principles of Cortado Ventures. Moradi, alongside a team of seasoned founders, CEOs, and operators, launched Cortado in 2020 with a clear mission: to create the kind of venture firm they wished had existed during their own entrepreneurial careers. This vision centered on a firm that possessed a deep empathetic understanding of the myriad decisions founders face and could offer substantial contributions beyond mere financial investment. Their collective experience, spanning diverse industries and company stages, positions Cortado as a unique partner, one that truly comprehends the intricate balance between ambition and operational reality.
Redefining American Innovation: The Midcontinent Advantage
Cortado Ventures’ investment thesis is strategically anchored in the U.S. Midcontinent, a region often overlooked by traditional venture capital but ripe with untapped potential. This geographic focus is not arbitrary; it is driven by a deep conviction that the Midcontinent is home to many of the nation’s critical industries, which are under immense pressure to evolve and innovate. Sectors such as energy, aerospace and defense, healthcare, manufacturing, mobility, and logistics operate within complex physical environments, entrenched supply chains, and demanding customer relationships. Transforming these industries, Cortado argues, requires more than just innovative software; it demands a profound, nuanced understanding of their operational intricacies.
Historically, venture capital funding has been heavily concentrated in coastal tech hubs like Silicon Valley, Boston, and New York. Data from organizations like PitchBook and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) consistently show that while these regions continue to attract the lion’s share of investment, there’s a growing recognition of the innovative ecosystems emerging in other parts of the country. For instance, in 2023, while California, New York, and Massachusetts dominated, regions outside these hubs saw increased activity, albeit from a smaller base. The Midcontinent, encompassing states like Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, and parts of Texas, presents a compelling alternative. This region offers a unique confluence of advantages: proximity to established critical industries, a readily available and technically skilled workforce, robust research institutions, complementary public funding initiatives, and significantly lower company-building costs compared to the saturated coastal markets. These factors collectively contribute to a more capital-efficient environment for startups, allowing early-stage companies to extend their runway and achieve critical milestones without the exorbitant overheads associated with traditional tech epicenters.
Cortado actively seeks out experienced technical founders who possess this invaluable industry understanding. These are individuals who may have spent years working within a hospital, a factory, a laboratory, an energy company, an aerospace program, or a logistics network, identifying persistent problems and envisioning novel solutions. Their firsthand experience grants them immediate credibility with potential customers, deep insight into implementation challenges, and an institutional knowledge that would be exceedingly difficult for outsiders to acquire. Cortado’s portfolio vividly illustrates the breadth of innovation emerging from this environment, with investments spanning space communications, industrial safety, critical infrastructure cybersecurity, advanced manufacturing, healthcare, energy, and mobility.
This strategy is not predicated on the notion that Midcontinent founders deserve investment simply because they have historically received less venture capital. Instead, it is built on the firm conviction that direct proximity to "hard problems" — the fundamental challenges facing critical industries — inherently produces differentiated companies and, consequently, strong financial returns. Moradi succinctly articulates this belief, stating, "Talent is not concentrated anywhere in particular. Capital and networks have just been slower to distribute than talent has." For Cortado Ventures, expanding the geographic reach of venture capital is more than an act of regional development; it is a strategic imperative for uncovering new sources of insight and innovation that traditional networks have historically overlooked, thereby broadening the map of American innovation.
Beyond the Check: Cultivating a Thriving Ecosystem
Initially, Mike Moradi believed that the primary constraint facing nascent venture ecosystems, particularly in regions like the Midcontinent, was a sheer shortage of capital. Cortado Ventures, through its early successes, effectively demonstrated that promising companies could indeed be identified and funded within the region. However, as the firm matured and its understanding of the entrepreneurial journey deepened, Moradi’s perspective on what founders truly needed became far more expansive. He candidly admits, "Five years ago, I would have said the limiting reagent in a young ecosystem was capital. Capital turned out to be necessary, and also nowhere close to sufficient."
This realization propelled Cortado to extend its mission beyond individual investments, embracing a broader role as an ecosystem builder. Founders, it became clear, require a multifaceted support structure: experienced operators who can guide them away from preventable mistakes, early-adopter customers willing to champion unproven technologies, supportive investors committed to bridging the gaps between milestones, and a vibrant community where vital relationships can naturally form. Moradi emphasizes this distinction, stating, "Money can accelerate a company. It cannot stand in for experience." Regional founders often cite the lack of a robust support network as a key challenge; initiatives like Cortado’s are directly addressing this.
In response to these evolving needs, Cortado has actively engaged in fostering a more connected and resilient Midcontinent ecosystem. The firm proactively works to connect founders with funders, universities, corporations, policymakers, and technical experts, ensuring these critical relationships are not reserved exclusively for its own portfolio companies. A cornerstone of these efforts is its annual Midcontinent Venture Capital Summit, an event that convenes investors, limited partners, founders, and ecosystem leaders from across the nation, facilitating crucial dialogues and connections. Furthermore, Cortado collaborates closely with regional entrepreneurship organizations and supports initiatives like The Verge, an Oklahoma City-based incubator and accelerator that provides company-building resources, specialized programming, and essential capital connections.
Each interaction facilitated by Cortado, whether at a summit, an incubator event, or through direct introductions, has the potential to help a founder secure a customer, find a mentor, recruit a key employee, identify a collaborator, or attract additional investment. Collectively, these relationships forge the essential infrastructure that enables a greater number of companies to not only start but also to successfully scale within the region. For Moradi, this is where venture capital’s impact truly transcends a single financial transaction. A stronger, more interconnected ecosystem provides a viable pathway for more entrepreneurs, simultaneously creating abundant opportunities for capital, talent, and innovation to converge and thrive. This holistic approach is a testament to Cortado’s commitment to building enduring value that extends far beyond the lifespan of any single fund.
Conviction Without False Certainty: The Art of Disciplined Investing
In the dynamic and often opaque world of early-stage venture capital, perfect information is a rare commodity. Mike Moradi openly acknowledges this inherent challenge, quipping, "Incomplete data is my job description." Rather than attempting to eliminate uncertainty entirely, Cortado’s investment philosophy is centered on disciplined evaluation and strategic risk management. Moradi meticulously differentiates between assumptions that can be immediately tested and those that will only resolve over time. He rigorously identifies the critical conditions that must hold true for a venture to succeed, actively considers how those conditions could be proven false, and carefully assesses the cost associated with achieving the next meaningful milestone.
Cortado’s strongest convictions typically revolve around three core pillars: the strength and capability of the founding team, the genuine urgency and scale of the customer problem being addressed, and the company’s demonstrable rate of progress. Moradi maintains a more cautious stance when it comes to predicting the precise timing of an
