The venture capital landscape is increasingly recognizing that innovation thrives beyond traditional coastal hubs, a sentiment powerfully embodied by Mike Moradi, co-founder and general partner of Cortado Ventures. Featured in the National Venture Capital Association’s (NVCA) "Meet a VC" series, Moradi’s journey and Cortado’s strategic investments highlight a burgeoning movement to democratize venture capital and uncover overlooked talent in America’s heartland. Based in Oklahoma City, Cortado Ventures is spearheading investment in seed-stage frontier technology companies across the U.S. Midcontinent, operating on a foundational belief: the most transformative founders often emerge from within the critical industries they seek to revolutionize.
The Rise of Regional Venture Capital and the Midcontinent’s Moment
Historically, venture capital investment has been heavily concentrated in a few key regions – Silicon Valley, Boston, and New York City. However, in recent years, there has been a notable shift, with increasing recognition of the untapped potential in emerging ecosystems. Data from PitchBook and the NVCA indicates a steady, albeit slower, growth in venture capital deployment across the Midcontinent states. While the sheer volume of deals and capital deployed still pales in comparison to the major hubs, the percentage growth in certain Midcontinent regions has been significant, signaling a maturing landscape. This shift is driven by several factors, including lower operational costs, a robust talent pool graduating from regional universities, and a growing recognition that critical industries located in these areas are ripe for technological disruption. Cortado Ventures, established in 2020, positioned itself at the forefront of this trend, strategically targeting the confluence of deep industry expertise and innovative technological solutions. The firm’s thesis posits that by linking founders’ invaluable on-the-ground experience with capital, customer access, and a broader support network, they can expand the geographical footprint of American innovation, fostering economic resilience and technological advancement in historically underserved areas.
A Founder’s Journey: Lessons Forged in the Crucible of Entrepreneurship
Mike Moradi’s path to venture capital is not one of a traditional financier but rather a seasoned entrepreneur who intimately understands the trials and triumphs of company building. His narrative is a compelling testament to the "built by founders, for founders" ethos that defines Cortado. Moradi embarked on his entrepreneurial journey after leaving dental school, a bold pivot that immediately immersed him in the high-stakes world of startups. His first venture, a biopharmaceutical company, ultimately failed. This early setback, however, proved to be a pivotal learning experience, instilling in him an unyielding resilience. "The lesson was to keep pushing past every obstacle, to not be discouraged by hearing the word ‘no,’ and to stay the course," Moradi reflects. This foundational experience underscored the importance of perseverance, a quality he now actively seeks in the founders Cortado supports.
Moradi’s subsequent ventures demonstrated a steep learning curve and growing success. His second company experienced rapid growth and was acquired by a Fortune 100 corporation, validating his entrepreneurial acumen. Later, a San Francisco Bay Area startup he led also achieved acquisition, but not before navigating a perilous period post an $18 million Series B financing round where it teetered on the brink of collapse. This near-failure delivered a different, equally critical lesson: while capital can accelerate a company, speed without direction can be detrimental. "A high valuation and a full bank account will happily let you scale the wrong thing," Moradi cautions. This experience shaped his approach to capital deployment, emphasizing that financing should facilitate the testing of assumptions, risk reduction, and the achievement of meaningful milestones, rather than enabling unchecked growth ahead of proven market fit. His unique blend of entrepreneurial optimism, tempered by evidence-based discipline and a clear understanding of a company’s immediate strategic imperatives, became a cornerstone of Cortado’s investment philosophy. In 2020, Moradi co-founded Cortado Ventures with a team comprising experienced founders, CEOs, and operators, united by the shared ambition to build the kind of supportive, insightful firm they wished they had encountered during their own entrepreneurial endeavors.
The Midcontinent Advantage: A Strategic Nexus for Frontier Technology
Cortado Ventures’ investment strategy is deeply rooted in the belief that the Midcontinent offers a distinct competitive advantage for frontier technology development. This region is home to a multitude of industries facing immense pressure to innovate and evolve, including energy, aerospace and defense, healthcare, manufacturing, mobility, and logistics. These sectors operate within complex physical infrastructures, established supply chains, and demanding customer ecosystems. True transformation in these domains requires far more than a compelling software application; it demands a profound understanding of the industry’s intricate workings.
Cortado actively seeks out technical founders who possess this invaluable insider knowledge. These are often individuals who have spent years immersed in hospitals, factories, laboratories, energy companies, aerospace programs, or logistics networks, identifying persistent problems and conceiving novel solutions. Their deep-seated experience grants them unparalleled credibility with customers, crucial insights into implementation challenges, and an understanding that is difficult, if not impossible, to acquire from an external perspective.
Beyond the intrinsic industry expertise, the geographical location itself confers significant benefits. The Midcontinent offers proximity to critical industries and potential customers, fostering a direct feedback loop for product development and market validation. The region also boasts a technically skilled workforce, often educated at strong research institutions and attracted by a lower cost of living compared to coastal tech hubs. Furthermore, complementary public funding and significantly lower company-building costs create a fertile environment for startups to develop and scale efficiently. Cortado’s diverse portfolio reflects the breadth of innovation emerging from this environment, with investments spanning space communications, industrial safety, critical infrastructure cybersecurity, advanced manufacturing, healthcare, energy transition, and mobility solutions. This strategy is not merely about addressing a historical imbalance in venture capital distribution; it is predicated on the firm conviction that proximity to "hard problems" inherently produces differentiated companies and robust financial returns. As Moradi succinctly puts it, "Talent is not concentrated anywhere in particular. Capital and networks have just been slower to distribute than talent has." For Cortado, expanding the geographic reach of venture capital is not just about finding more founders; it’s about unlocking novel sources of insight and innovation that traditional networks have historically overlooked.
Beyond Capital: Building a Resilient Ecosystem
When Cortado Ventures first launched, Mike Moradi believed that the primary constraint facing a nascent venture ecosystem was a shortage of capital. The firm’s early successes in identifying and funding promising regional companies validated the need for investment. However, as Cortado matured and its understanding of the ecosystem deepened, Moradi’s perspective evolved. "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," he states. This realization underscores a critical truth about ecosystem development: a thriving startup environment requires a complex interplay of various factors beyond just financial resources.
Founders need more than just money; they require a robust support system. This includes experienced operators who can provide guidance and help avoid common pitfalls, early adopter customers willing to pilot unproven technologies, supportive investors prepared to bridge funding gaps between milestones, and a vibrant community where crucial relationships can be forged. "Money can accelerate a company," Moradi emphasizes, "It cannot stand in for experience." This profound understanding has shaped Cortado’s expansive role within the broader Midcontinent ecosystem. The firm actively works to connect founders with funders, universities, corporations, policymakers, and technical experts, fostering a collaborative network that extends beyond its own portfolio companies.
Cortado’s commitment to ecosystem building is evident in initiatives like its annual Midcontinent Venture Capital Summit, which convenes investors, limited partners, founders, and ecosystem leaders from across the country, facilitating vital connections and knowledge exchange. The firm also collaborates closely with regional entrepreneurship organizations and The Verge, an Oklahoma City-based incubator and accelerator that provides company-building resources, programming, and essential capital connections. Each interaction within this expanding network helps founders find customers, advisors, employees, collaborators, or investors. Collectively, these relationships form the indispensable infrastructure that enables more companies to not only start but also to successfully scale. For Moradi, this is where venture capital’s impact transcends individual investments, contributing to a stronger, more dynamic ecosystem that provides viable pathways for a greater number of entrepreneurs and ensures that capital, talent, and innovation effectively converge. The long-term implication is a more diversified national economy and increased regional prosperity.
Investment Discipline: Conviction Without False Certainty
Early-stage venture capital inherently operates in an environment of incomplete information. As Moradi aptly puts it, "Incomplete data is my job description." Rather than attempting to eliminate uncertainty entirely, Cortado’s investment philosophy focuses on disciplined risk management and strategic validation. This involves rigorously separating assumptions that can be immediately tested from those that will only be resolved over time. The firm meticulously identifies the critical conditions that must be true for a venture to succeed, actively considers how these conditions could be disproven, and carefully evaluates the cost of reaching the next meaningful milestone.
Cortado’s strongest convictions typically center on the founding team’s capabilities, the clarity and urgency of the customer problem being addressed, and the company’s demonstrated rate of progress. Moradi maintains a more cautious stance when it comes to predicting the precise timing of an emerging market or the exact path a company may eventually take to an exit. This discipline becomes particularly vital when a financing round gains rapid momentum. The allure of a compelling founder and a competitive fundraising process can create intense pressure to make a swift decision before the central investment assumptions have been thoroughly vetted. "A hard deadline is exactly when people stop asking uncomfortable questions," Moradi warns. In such scenarios, Cortado is prepared to deliberately slow down the process, bringing in independent scientific or technical experts for deeper diligence. This additional scrutiny can either strengthen the firm’s conviction or reveal crucial reasons to step away, ensuring decisions are data-informed rather than rushed. Moradi notes that Cortado’s most robust founder relationships often begin with this rigorous scrutiny, as it sharpens thinking and identifies potential risks while there is still time to address them effectively. Importantly, slowing the decision-making process does not equate to a slow response to founders, but rather a thoughtful one.
The firm also applies this discipline to valuation, understanding that a sensible entry price is a critical form of protection for founders, employees, and investors alike. An aggressive valuation, while seemingly an immediate victory, can create unrealistic expectations. If a company’s progress fails to meet these elevated benchmarks, the consequences can be severe, impacting founder ownership, employee equity, future fundraising options, and the company’s crucial ability to adapt. Moradi emphasizes the delicate balance, acknowledging that excessively low valuations can also stifle a company’s growth. "The right number buys you options for years. In boom times, people forget that financial crises happen," he states, highlighting the importance of long-term perspective. For Cortado, discipline is not a lack of belief in a founder’s ambition; rather, it is a strategic approach to provide ambitious companies with the necessary flexibility and time to navigate challenges and ultimately succeed.
Founder Support: Speed, Specificity, and Empathy
Cortado Ventures distinguishes itself through a hands-on, founder-centric support model, shaped by its team’s extensive operating experience. Having built, scaled, and successfully exited companies across many of the industries in which they invest, Cortado’s partners deeply understand the complexities and emotional toll of entrepreneurial leadership. Moradi distills meaningful support into two crucial words: "Speed and specificity." This translates into a commitment to respond to founders in hours, not days, and to "show up with work already done instead of advice. Better yet, pick up the phone." This active engagement can manifest in various forms: rebuilding a financial model, making a strategic customer introduction, assisting with senior executive recruitment, or taking responsibility for a difficult board conversation. It also involves the courage to deliver uncomfortable truths when a company’s runway is shortening or a strategic pivot is imperative. Moradi, drawing from his own experience as a founder in challenging board meetings, recalls, "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 broader Midcontinent ecosystem have matured, the firm’s founder support has evolved, becoming increasingly sophisticated. Portfolio companies now benefit from a rich network comprising operating executives, industry specialists, advisors, prospective customers, coaches, investors, and fellow founders. This robust ecosystem provides multifaceted support tailored to the diverse needs of growing companies. While access to capital was initially a primary driver for founders in the region, today’s entrepreneurs also require customer access, top-tier talent, specialized technical expertise, and candid, experienced guidance. Crucially, Cortado’s role is not to usurp control from the entrepreneur. The partners understand that sometimes, the most valuable contribution an investor can make is knowing when not to intervene. "Other times," Moradi acknowledges, "being helpful means staying out of the way." This nuanced approach reflects a deep respect for entrepreneurial autonomy, balanced with a readiness to provide decisive, impactful support when it’s truly needed.
Building What Outlasts a Fund: A Vision for Enduring Impact
Mike Moradi articulates a vision for Cortado Ventures that extends far beyond the lifespan of a single fund, emphasizing a responsibility to build enduring infrastructure. "We must build things that outlast a single fund," he asserts. For Cortado, this commitment translates into actively strengthening the connective tissue among founders, funders, universities, corporations, and policymakers across the Midcontinent. It also means fostering the growth of other investment firms within the region. Moradi vehemently rejects a zero-sum mentality, stating, "This is not a zero-sum game. 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 yields numerous benefits: founders gain access to more potential sources of capital and expertise, investors find increased opportunities for collaboration and participation in promising ventures, and, over time, a more durable pathway is established between regional innovation and national capital markets. This ecosystem-building ethos, however, does not diminish the firm’s primary responsibility to its limited partners. Moradi, having served as a trustee and audit committee member for a state retirement system, deeply understands the imperative of direct communication regarding investment risk, duration, and potential losses. "Ecosystem building matters, and it does not excuse any of us from being disciplined fiduciaries first," he underscores.
Cortado’s engagement with the NVCA is also a vital component of its broader strategy. Moradi recognizes the NVCA’s crucial role in advocating for policies that support venture capital and innovation nationwide. Issues such as capital formation, research commercialization, immigration policies, government procurement, tax treatment, and securities regulations are not abstract; they directly influence an emerging manager’s ability to raise a fund, a startup’s capacity to attract talent, and a new technology’s journey 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 states. This participation also provides Cortado with a platform to bring a Midcontinent perspective into national dialogues about innovation, capital formation, and the evolving future of the venture industry, ensuring that regional voices are heard in shaping national policy.
Expanding the Map of American Innovation: A Future Forged in the Heartland
Moradi hopes that Cortado Ventures’ narrative will help broaden the public’s understanding of American venture capital, moving beyond the prevailing caricature of a few dominant firms. "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 smaller, specialized firms play an indispensable role in identifying founders before their markets become obvious, bridging specialized knowledge with 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 reminds us.
The current technological paradigm, characterized by advancements in artificial intelligence, automation, advanced manufacturing, energy innovation, biotechnology, and space technology, is dramatically lowering the cost of pursuing ambitious ideas. Small, agile teams can now tackle opportunities that once required the vast resources of large corporations or national programs. Many of these innovative teams are emerging precisely in locations intimately connected to the problems they are striving to solve.
This is the profound impact of geographically diversifying venture capital across America. When investors consciously look beyond familiar networks and engage with founders in regions where critical industries operate, they catalyze a virtuous cycle. More ideas transform into viable companies, more groundbreaking technologies reach the market, and more communities actively participate in, and benefit from, the nation’s innovation economy. For Mike Moradi, the founders who dare to attempt what others deem impossible remain the greatest source of optimism. "Never forget that we’re here for them. When we do this right, everyone, including humanity, wins," he concludes, encapsulating Cortado Ventures’ unwavering commitment to empowering the next generation of innovators from the heart of America. Cortado Ventures stands as a testament to the fact that the future of American innovation is being forged not just on the coasts, but increasingly, in the dynamic and resilient Midcontinent.
