In a landscape often dominated by the traditional tech hubs of the East and West Coasts, Cortado Ventures, an Oklahoma City-based firm, is strategically redefining where American innovation takes root. Through the National Venture Capital Association’s (NVCA) "Meet a VC" series, which spotlights the diverse perspectives and convictions shaping the venture capital industry, Mike Moradi, co-founder and general partner of Cortado Ventures, offers a compelling vision for investing in seed-stage frontier technology companies across the U.S. Midcontinent. This approach not only challenges geographical norms but also champions a deeply founder-centric philosophy, believing that the most impactful transformations in critical industries will come from those who have spent years immersed in them. Cortado’s emergence underscores a broader national trend towards decentralizing venture capital, recognizing that talent and innovation are distributed far more widely than investment capital has historically been.
A Founder’s Journey to Venture Capital
Moradi’s path to venture capital is paved with firsthand entrepreneurial experience, a rare asset that imbues Cortado’s strategy with authenticity and empathy. His journey began unconventionally, leaving dental school to launch his first company. While that initial venture ultimately failed, it served as a crucible, forging a resilient mindset. "The lesson was to keep pushing past every obstacle, to not be discouraged by hearing the word ‘no,’ and to stay the course," Moradi recounts, highlighting a foundational principle that would guide his subsequent endeavors. This early setback, rather than deterring him, instilled a profound understanding of the perseverance required to navigate the tumultuous startup world.
He went on to build and lead six companies across technically complex industries such, as biopharmaceuticals and nanotechnology. His second venture saw rapid growth and was successfully acquired by a Fortune 100 company, demonstrating his capacity for scaling innovation. Later, a San Francisco Bay Area startup he co-founded faced near collapse after an $18 million Series B financing round before ultimately being acquired. This pivotal experience delivered another critical lesson: capital, while essential, can also accelerate a company in the wrong direction if not deployed judiciously. Moradi learned that "A high valuation and a full bank account will happily let you scale the wrong thing," emphasizing the importance of strategic capital deployment matched with proven traction. This insight now underpins Cortado’s meticulous approach to financing, ensuring that investments help founders validate assumptions, mitigate risk, and achieve meaningful milestones rather than fostering premature or unsustainable growth. This extensive operational background provides Moradi with a unique lens, allowing him to anticipate challenges and offer counsel that extends far beyond financial investment, distinguishing Cortado as a firm built by founders, for founders.
Cortado Ventures: Built by Founders, For Founders
Cortado Ventures officially launched in 2020, a year marked by unprecedented global shifts that inadvertently highlighted the resilience and adaptability of regional economies. Moradi, alongside a team of seasoned founders, CEOs, and operators, established Cortado with the explicit goal of creating the kind of firm they wished had existed during their own entrepreneurial careers. Their thesis is straightforward yet powerful: founders with deep, experiential knowledge of critical industries are best equipped to identify and solve entrenched problems. These "insider" founders possess invaluable credibility with customers, practical insights into implementation complexities, and a nuanced understanding that outsiders would struggle to cultivate.
The firm’s investment philosophy is thus grounded in identifying these domain experts and empowering them with more than just capital. Cortado provides a comprehensive ecosystem of support, including access to a broad network of customers, strategic partners, and experienced mentors. This integrated approach aims to expand the geographical footprint of American innovation, moving beyond established tech epicenters to unlock untapped potential in regions historically underserved by venture capital. The firm’s commitment goes beyond simply writing checks; it involves active mentorship, strategic guidance, and hands-on operational support, reflecting the team’s shared belief that true partnership involves contributing significantly beyond the initial investment. This model resonates strongly in the current climate, where the decentralization of workforces and the increasing viability of remote operations have further opened doors for regional innovation hubs.
The Strategic Advantage of the Midcontinent
The Midcontinent region, spanning states like Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, and Arkansas, presents a unique and compelling investment opportunity, often overlooked by traditional venture capital. This vast area is home to numerous industries facing immense pressure to innovate and evolve, including energy, aerospace and defense, healthcare, manufacturing, mobility, and logistics. These sectors operate within complex physical environments, established supply chains, and demanding regulatory frameworks—conditions that require more than just compelling software. True transformation necessitates a profound understanding of industrial mechanics and operational realities.
Cortado specifically targets experienced technical founders who possess this intrinsic understanding, individuals who may have spent years working within a hospital, factory, laboratory, energy company, aerospace program, or logistics network before recognizing an opportunity for disruptive innovation. Their "insider" perspective grants them a significant competitive advantage, facilitating customer adoption and navigating implementation hurdles. Beyond human capital, the geography itself offers a potent competitive edge. The Midcontinent provides unparalleled proximity to critical industries and potential customers, a robust and technically skilled workforce, strong research institutions, and access to complementary public funding initiatives. Crucially, the cost of company building—from office space and talent acquisition to operational overhead—is significantly lower than in coastal tech hubs, allowing startups to extend their runway and achieve more with less capital.
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. While historical data from sources like PitchBook and the NVCA have often shown a concentration of venture capital in California, New York, and Massachusetts, recent years have seen a gradual shift. Reports indicate that the share of VC dollars going to non-traditional hubs has been steadily increasing, driven by factors like lower costs, a growing talent pool, and the deliberate efforts of firms like Cortado. For example, states in the Midcontinent have seen double-digit percentage increases in VC funding in recent years, albeit from a smaller base, demonstrating growing investor interest. Cortado’s strategy is not merely about addressing historical funding disparities; it is built on the firm conviction that proximity to hard problems, coupled with domain expertise, yields differentiated companies and robust returns. Moradi succinctly articulates this belief: "Talent is not concentrated anywhere in particular. Capital and networks have just been slower to distribute than talent has." This ethos positions Cortado not as a charitable endeavor but as a shrewd investor capitalizing on overlooked opportunities.
Beyond Capital: Cultivating an Ecosystem
Moradi’s initial assessment of the Midcontinent’s venture ecosystem identified a primary constraint: a shortage of capital. Cortado Ventures played a pivotal role in demonstrating that promising companies could indeed be identified and funded within the region, attracting attention and co-investment from other firms. However, as Cortado matured, Moradi’s understanding of what founders truly needed became more expansive. "Five years ago, I would have said the limiting reagent in a young ecosystem was capital," he reflects. "Capital turned out to be necessary, and also nowhere close to sufficient."
This profound realization reshaped Cortado’s role, moving beyond mere funding to actively cultivating a vibrant, interconnected ecosystem. Founders require more than just money; they need experienced operators to help them avoid common pitfalls, early-adopting customers willing to pilot unproven technologies, investors committed to supporting a company through multiple milestones, and a supportive community where crucial relationships can flourish. "Money can accelerate a company," Moradi emphasizes, "It cannot stand in for experience."
To address these multifaceted needs, Cortado actively works to bridge gaps among founders, funders, universities, corporations, policymakers, and technical experts. This connective tissue is not reserved exclusively for their portfolio companies but is designed to benefit the entire regional ecosystem. The firm’s annual Midcontinent Venture Capital Summit, for instance, convenes investors, limited partners, founders, and ecosystem leaders from across the nation, fostering collaboration and deal flow. Cortado also partners with regional entrepreneurship organizations and The Verge, an Oklahoma City-based incubator and accelerator that provides company-building resources, programming, and vital capital connections. Each interaction, whether a mentorship session or a networking event, can lead to a critical customer introduction, an invaluable advisory relationship, a key hire, or a follow-on investment. Collectively, these relationships form the indispensable infrastructure that enables more companies to start, scale, and thrive, extending venture capital’s impact far beyond a single investment.
Investment Philosophy: Discipline and Conviction
Investing in early-stage companies inherently involves navigating uncertainty, a reality Moradi readily acknowledges. "Incomplete data is my job description," he quips, underscoring the necessity of making informed decisions with imperfect information. His investment philosophy centers on a disciplined approach to conviction, separating testable assumptions from those that will only resolve over time. He meticulously identifies the conditions that must be true for a venture to succeed, actively seeks ways those conditions could be proven false, and carefully evaluates the cost of reaching the next meaningful milestone.
Moradi’s strongest convictions typically revolve around the founding team’s capabilities, the clarity and urgency of the customer problem being addressed, and the company’s demonstrated rate of progress. He exercises greater caution when predicting the precise timing of an emerging market or the eventual exit path a company might take. This discipline becomes particularly critical during rapidly moving financing rounds, where a charismatic founder and competitive process can create immense pressure to make a swift decision before core investment assumptions have been thoroughly vetted. "A hard deadline is exactly when people stop asking uncomfortable questions," Moradi warns. When necessary, Cortado deliberately slows the process, bringing in independent scientific or technical experts for deeper diligence. This additional scrutiny can either solidify the firm’s conviction or reveal reasons to step away, a process that ultimately strengthens the most promising founder relationships by sharpening thinking and identifying risks proactively.
Moradi applies the same rigorous discipline to valuation. While an aggressive valuation might feel like an immediate victory for a startup, he cautions that "A sensible entry price is a form of protection for the founder, employees, and investors alike." If a company’s progress fails to meet the lofty expectations attached to an inflated valuation, the consequences can be severe, impacting founder ownership, employee equity, future fundraising options, and the company’s ability to adapt. He notes that "This cuts both ways, as VCs can also strangle the life out of a company. Balance is key." Drawing on his experience, Moradi emphasizes the long-term perspective: "The right number buys you options for years. In boom times, people forget that financial crises happen." For Cortado, discipline is not a lack of belief in a founder’s ambition but a strategic imperative to provide ambitious companies with the financial flexibility and time necessary to navigate challenges and ultimately succeed.
Actionable Support for Founders
Cortado’s operational experience is a cornerstone of its founder support model. The team has built, scaled, and successfully exited companies across many of the industries in which they now invest, providing a practical, empathetic understanding of the challenges founders face. Moradi distills meaningful support into two words: "Speed and specificity." He advocates for responsive engagement, advising: "Answer in hours rather than days and show up with work already done instead of advice. Better yet, pick up the phone."
This commitment to actionable support translates into tangible assistance, whether it’s rebuilding a financial model, making a crucial customer introduction, assisting with senior executive recruitment, or navigating a difficult board conversation. It also means having the courage to deliver uncomfortable truths when a company’s runway is shortening or its strategy needs a drastic pivot. Moradi, recalling his own time as a founder in such meetings, remembers, "What helped was someone who lowered the temperature, told the truth to me and the board, and followed up after the meeting."
As Cortado and the surrounding Midcontinent ecosystem have matured, the firm’s founder support has grown increasingly sophisticated. Portfolio companies now have access to a rich network of operating executives, industry specialists, advisers, prospective customers, coaches, and other founders. The needs of founders have also evolved. While capital was initially scarce in the region, making Cortado’s investment and ability to attract co-investors particularly valuable, today’s founders also seek customer access, senior talent, specialized technical expertise, and honest, experienced guidance. Crucially, the firm’s role is not to usurp control from the entrepreneur. Moradi understands that sometimes "being helpful means staying out of the way," recognizing when the most valuable contribution an investor can make is to trust the founder’s vision and execution.
Long-Term Vision: Building Enduring Infrastructure
Moradi’s vision for Cortado extends beyond the lifecycle of a single fund; it encompasses a profound commitment to building enduring infrastructure. "We must build things that outlast a single fund," he asserts, emphasizing the importance of creating sustainable value for the entire ecosystem. This means actively strengthening the connections among founders, funders, universities, corporations, and policymakers, fostering a collaborative environment rather than a competitive one. It also involves nurturing the formation and growth of other investment firms within the region. "This is not a zero-sum game," Moradi declares. "We want to enable a dozen other firms in our geography, and bring in outside funds for later rounds. We need to create scalable structures where everyone can win."
A larger, more interconnected investment community offers founders a wider array of capital sources and expertise, while creating more opportunities for investors to collaborate and participate in promising companies. Over time, this collaborative approach establishes a more durable pathway between regional innovation and national capital markets. Moradi, having served as a trustee and audit committee member for a state retirement system, deeply understands that ecosystem building, while vital, does not supersede a firm’s primary responsibility to its limited partners. "Ecosystem building matters, and it does not excuse any of us from being disciplined fiduciaries first," he states, highlighting the critical balance between community development and robust financial stewardship.
Cortado also recognizes the vital role of organizations like the NVCA in supporting firms and founders nationwide. Policy issues such as capital formation, research commercialization, immigration reform, government procurement, tax treatment, and securities rules are not abstract concepts; they directly influence an emerging manager’s ability to raise a fund, a startup’s capacity to attract talent, and a new technology’s path to market. "NVCA helps each of us make policy concrete and stay on top of the issues that matter in D.C. and beyond," Moradi notes. Participation in NVCA also provides Cortado with a crucial platform to contribute a Midcontinent perspective to national conversations about innovation, capital formation, and the future trajectory of the venture industry.
Redefining American Innovation
Moradi hopes Cortado’s story will serve as a powerful testament to the breadth and diversity of American venture capital, challenging prevailing caricatures. While the industry’s largest firms often garner the most attention, the vast majority of venture capital activity is driven by smaller, specialized investors writing early checks into niche sectors, specific geographies, or underserved demographics. "Most of VC looks nothing like the caricature. The bulk of the industry is small firms writing early checks into some niche, be it industrial, geographic, demographic, or otherwise. And a VC firm is also a startup until fund 3 or 4," he explains.
These specialized firms play an indispensable role in identifying founders before their markets become obvious, connecting specialized knowledge with essential capital, and guiding companies through the arduous period between a promising idea and a sustainable business. "The hardest work happens after the money moves," Moradi asserts, emphasizing the intensive, hands-on support required for early-stage success. The current technological epoch, marked by advancements in artificial intelligence, automation, advanced manufacturing, energy innovation, biology, and space technology, is further democratizing innovation. These technologies are dramatically reducing the cost of pursuing ambitious ideas, enabling small, agile teams to tackle opportunities that once demanded the vast resources of large corporations or national programs.
Crucially, many of these innovative teams are emerging in locations closely connected to the very problems they are working to solve. This phenomenon is at the heart of expanding venture capital across America. When investors look beyond familiar networks and engage with founders where critical industries operate, they catalyze a virtuous cycle: more ideas evolve into viable companies, more groundbreaking technologies reach the market, and more communities actively participate in and benefit from the nation’s innovation economy. For Moradi, the unwavering optimism lies with the founders themselves—those intrepid individuals attempting what others deem impossible. "Never forget that we’re here for them. When we do this right, everyone, including humanity, wins," he concludes, encapsulating Cortado Ventures’ mission to drive impactful innovation from the heart of America.
Cortado Ventures is a proud member of the NVCA, embodying the spirit of regional innovation and collaborative growth. To learn more about their transformative work, visit cortado.ventures.
