The venture capital landscape is undergoing a significant transformation, moving beyond its traditional coastal epicenters to cultivate innovation in new geographic frontiers. At the forefront of this movement is Cortado Ventures, an Oklahoma City-based firm co-founded by Mike Moradi, a seasoned entrepreneur turned general partner. Featured in the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA)’s "Meet a VC" series, Moradi and Cortado Ventures exemplify a strategic shift towards investing in seed-stage frontier technology companies across the U.S. Midcontinent, driven by a deep conviction that transformative founders are often those with years of lived experience within critical industries.
A Founder’s Journey Forged in Failure and Resilience
Mike Moradi’s path to venture capital is not one of seamless success but rather a testament to resilience forged through firsthand entrepreneurial struggle. A six-time founder, Moradi navigated the complexities of building and leading companies in technically intricate fields such as biopharmaceuticals and nanotechnology. His entrepreneurial odyssey began unconventionally, as he departed dental school to launch his inaugural venture. It failed. This initial setback, however, did not diminish his ambition; instead, it instilled invaluable lessons in perseverance and unwavering commitment in the face of skepticism. Moradi reflects on this period, stating, "The lesson was to keep pushing past every obstacle, to not be discouraged by hearing the word ‘no,’ and to stay the course.”
Undeterred, Moradi’s subsequent endeavor achieved rapid growth and was successfully acquired by a Fortune 100 corporation, marking a significant early triumph. Later, a San Francisco Bay Area venture also found an exit through acquisition, but only after enduring a near-collapse following an $18 million Series B financing round. This experience provided a different, equally critical lesson: while capital can accelerate growth, speed is only advantageous when a business is fundamentally sound and prepared for scale. He cautions, "A high valuation and a full bank account will happily let you scale the wrong thing.” This profound insight underscores his current mission: to imbue the Midcontinent with the entrepreneurial dynamism typically associated with Silicon Valley, meticulously considering the sequencing and timing of capital deployment alongside a company’s technological prowess. Financing, in Moradi’s view, must serve to validate assumptions, mitigate risk, and achieve verifiable milestones, rather than propelling a business beyond its proven capabilities. This philosophy marries entrepreneurial optimism with rigorous evidence, disciplined execution, and a clear understanding of immediate strategic imperatives.
In 2020, Moradi, alongside a cadre of experienced founders, CEOs, and operators, co-launched Cortado Ventures. Their collective ambition was to construct the kind of firm they had yearned for during their own entrepreneurial careers: one characterized by a profound understanding of the founder’s journey and an ability to contribute substantially beyond the initial investment check. This foundational principle forms the bedrock of Cortado’s operational ethos.
The Midcontinent’s Untapped Potential: A Strategic Advantage
Cortado Ventures’ core investment thesis is strategically anchored in the unique advantages offered by the U.S. Midcontinent. This expansive region is home to an array of industries—energy, aerospace and defense, healthcare, manufacturing, mobility, and logistics—all confronting immense pressure to innovate and evolve. These sectors operate within inherently complex physical environments, are constrained by established supply chains, and serve demanding customer bases. True transformation within these domains, Moradi posits, demands far more than merely a compelling software application; it necessitates an intimate, granular understanding of their operational intricacies.
Cortado actively seeks out technical founders who possess this deep-seated industry knowledge. These individuals may have dedicated years within hospitals, factories, laboratories, energy corporations, aerospace programs, or logistics networks before identifying a novel approach to a persistent challenge. Their insider experience grants them immediate credibility with customers, crucial insights into implementation hurdles, and a depth of knowledge that would be exceedingly difficult for outsiders to cultivate.
The geographical context itself emerges as a pivotal investment advantage. The Midcontinent provides unparalleled proximity to these critical industries and their potential customers, boasts a technically skilled workforce often cultivated by strong regional research institutions, benefits from complementary public funding initiatives, and offers significantly lower company-building costs compared to traditional tech hubs. This confluence of factors creates a fertile ground for innovation that is often overlooked by geographically constrained venture capital.
Data from organizations like PitchBook and NVCA has consistently highlighted a trend of increasing venture capital deployment in regions outside the major coastal hubs over the past five to seven years. While still a smaller percentage of overall VC activity, the growth rate in areas like the Midcontinent often outpaces that of established markets. For example, specific reports indicate double-digit percentage increases in VC investment in states like Oklahoma, Kansas, and Arkansas in recent years, albeit from a lower baseline. This trend underscores the growing recognition among investors of the value proposition in these burgeoning ecosystems.
Cortado’s diverse portfolio vividly reflects the breadth of innovation emanating from this environment. Its investee companies are deploying cutting-edge technologies across vital sectors such as space communications, industrial safety, critical infrastructure cybersecurity, advanced manufacturing, healthcare, energy, and mobility. The firm’s strategy is not predicated on the notion that Midcontinent founders deserve investment simply due to historical undercapitalization. Instead, it is firmly rooted in the conviction that direct proximity to complex, "hard problems" inherently cultivates differentiated companies and generates robust financial 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.” For him, broadening the geographic reach of venture capital is not merely about discovering more founders; it is about uncovering novel sources of insight and innovation that traditional networks have historically overlooked.
Beyond Capital: Cultivating a Thriving Ecosystem
When Cortado Ventures was established, Mike Moradi initially believed that the primary impediment to a nascent venture ecosystem was a scarcity of capital. The firm rapidly proved that promising companies could indeed be identified and funded within the region. However, as Cortado expanded its operations and deepened its engagement, Moradi’s understanding of founders’ needs evolved significantly. "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.”
Founders, he realized, require a multifaceted support system that extends far beyond financial investment. This includes experienced operators who can help preempt avoidable errors, pioneering customers willing to embrace unproven technologies, patient investors prepared to bridge funding gaps between milestones, and a vibrant community conducive to the formation of critical relationships. As Moradi emphasizes, "Money can accelerate a company. It cannot stand in for experience.”
This pivotal realization has profoundly shaped Cortado’s broader role within the Midcontinent ecosystem. The firm actively works to forge connections among founders, funders, universities, corporations, policymakers, and technical experts, consciously avoiding the reservation of these relationships exclusively for its own portfolio companies. This collaborative approach fosters a denser, more interconnected network. Cortado’s commitment to ecosystem development is manifest in initiatives such as its annual Midcontinent Venture Capital Summit, which convenes investors, limited partners, founders, and ecosystem leaders from across the nation. Furthermore, the firm actively collaborates with regional entrepreneurship organizations and The Verge, an Oklahoma City-based incubator and accelerator that provides vital company-building resources, programming, and capital connections. Each interaction facilitated by these efforts has the potential to connect a founder with a crucial customer, adviser, employee, collaborator, or investor. Collectively, these relationships construct the essential infrastructure that enables a greater number of companies to both launch and scale successfully. For Moradi, this is where venture capital’s impact transcends a singular investment, contributing to a stronger ecosystem that provides more entrepreneurs with viable pathways to company formation and creates expanded opportunities for capital, talent, and innovation to converge.
Discipline in Uncertainty: The Cortado Investment Philosophy
Investing in early-stage ventures inherently involves operating with imperfect information, a reality Moradi readily acknowledges. "Incomplete data is my job description,” he quips. Rather than striving for the unattainable goal of eliminating uncertainty, his approach involves strategically segmenting assumptions: distinguishing those that can be immediately tested from those that will only resolve over time. He meticulously identifies the prerequisite conditions for success, rigorously considers how those conditions could be invalidated, and carefully assesses the cost associated with achieving the next meaningful milestone.
Moradi’s strongest convictions typically coalesce around the founding team’s capabilities, the precise customer problem being addressed, and the company’s demonstrable rate of progress. Conversely, he exercises greater caution in predicting the exact timing of an emerging market or the specific trajectory a company might ultimately take toward an exit. This disciplined framework becomes especially critical during rapidly moving financing rounds. The allure of a compelling founder and the pressure of a competitive process can often create an impetus to finalize a decision before core investment assumptions have been adequately vetted. "A hard deadline is exactly when people stop asking uncomfortable questions,” Moradi warns.
When circumstances demand, Cortado is prepared to deliberately slow down the investment process, engaging independent scientific or technical experts for deeper evaluation. This additional diligence can either fortify the firm’s conviction or unveil compelling reasons to withdraw. Intriguingly, many of Cortado’s most robust founder relationships have commenced with this very level of scrutiny, as it sharpens strategic thinking and identifies risks at a stage when they can still be effectively addressed. However, slowing the decision-making process does not equate to delaying responsiveness; swift action is still paramount once a decision is made.
Moradi applies the same stringent discipline to valuation. "A sensible entry price is a form of protection for the founder, employees, and investors alike.” While an aggressive valuation might initially feel like an immediate victory, if the company’s subsequent progress fails to align with the elevated expectations attached to that figure, the repercussions can be severe. These can impact founder ownership, employee equity pools, future fundraising options, and the company’s fundamental ability to adapt to unforeseen challenges. This principle, Moradi notes, cuts both ways, as excessively low valuations can also stifle a company’s potential. "The right number buys you options for years. In boom times, people forget that financial crises happen.” For Cortado, this discipline is not indicative of a lack of belief in a founder’s ambition; rather, it is a strategic mechanism to afford ambitious companies the crucial flexibility and time required for long-term success.
Actionable Support: Showing Up With Work Already Done
The Cortado team comprises individuals who have built, scaled, and successfully exited companies across many of the very industries in which the firm invests. This deep operational experience profoundly shapes how they support founders, particularly when strategic plans inevitably shift or difficult decisions emerge. Moradi encapsulates the essence of meaningful support in two words: "Speed and specificity."
He elaborates on this ethos: "Answer in hours rather than days and show up with work already done instead of advice. Better yet, pick up the phone.” This active, hands-on approach might involve rebuilding a complex financial model, facilitating a critical customer introduction, assisting in the recruitment of a senior executive, or assuming responsibility for navigating a challenging board conversation. It also entails the courage to articulate uncomfortable truths when a company’s runway is diminishing or its core strategy requires a fundamental pivot. Moradi, having been the founder in such demanding meetings, vividly recalls what proved most helpful: "What helped was someone who lowered the temperature, told the truth to me and the board, and followed up after the meeting.”
Cortado’s founder support system has become increasingly sophisticated as both the firm and the surrounding ecosystem have matured. Portfolio companies now have access to a rich network comprising operating executives, industry specialists, advisers, prospective customers, coaches, investors, and other founders within the firm’s expansive reach. The evolving needs of founders mirror this growth. While capital scarcity once made Cortado’s direct investment and ability to attract additional investors particularly valuable, today’s founders increasingly require customer access, senior talent acquisition, specialized technical expertise, and candid, honest guidance. Crucially, the firm’s role is not to usurp control from the entrepreneur. Sometimes, the most valuable contribution an investor can make is knowing precisely when not to intervene. "Other times,” Moradi observes, "being helpful means staying out of the way.”
Building What Outlasts a Fund: A Vision for Enduring Impact
Mike Moradi firmly believes that a venture firm’s responsibility extends beyond the confines of its own portfolio and the lifecycle of a single fund. "We must build things that outlast a single fund,” he asserts. For Cortado, this translates into a dedicated effort to strengthen the connective tissue among founders, funders, universities, corporations, and policymakers. It also encompasses actively fostering the formation and growth of more investment firms within the region.
Moradi views this not as a zero-sum competition but as a collaborative endeavor. "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 provides founders with a broader array of potential capital sources and expertise. It simultaneously generates more opportunities for investors to collaborate and participate in promising companies. Over time, this collective effort can establish a more durable and efficient pathway between regional innovation and national capital markets.
While committed to ecosystem building, Moradi remains steadfast in the firm’s primary responsibility to its limited partners. His experience serving as a trustee and audit committee member for a state retirement system reinforced the paramount importance of transparency regarding investment risk, duration, and potential losses. "Ecosystem building matters, and it does not excuse any of us from being disciplined fiduciaries first.”
Moradi also recognizes the NVCA as a crucial component of the connective infrastructure that supports firms and founders across the country. Policy issues such as capital formation, research commercialization, immigration, government procurement, tax treatment, and securities regulations 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 pathway to reach the customers and institutions that desperately need it. "NVCA helps each of us make policy concrete and stay on top of the issues that matter in D.C. and beyond,” Moradi explains. Furthermore, Cortado’s participation in the NVCA provides a vital platform to infuse a Midcontinent perspective into national dialogues concerning innovation, capital formation, and the future trajectory of the venture industry.
Expanding the Map of American Innovation: A Broader Vision
Mike Moradi hopes Cortado’s compelling narrative can broaden perceptions of American venture capital, moving beyond the often-singular focus on the industry’s largest and most visible firms. While these giants command significant attention, the vast majority of the venture industry comprises smaller, specialized investors deploying early checks into niche areas—be it industrial, geographic, demographic, or otherwise. "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.”
These specialized firms play an indispensable role in identifying founders before their markets become overtly obvious, bridging specialized knowledge with much-needed capital, and guiding companies through the arduous period between a promising concept and a sustainable business model. As Moradi aptly puts it, "The hardest work happens after the money moves.”
The advent of new technologies is rendering this work even more consequential. Advancements in artificial intelligence, automation, advanced manufacturing, energy innovation, synthetic biology, and space technology are dramatically reducing the cost barriers to pursuing ambitious ideas. Consequently, small, agile teams can now tackle opportunities that once demanded the vast resources of large corporations or national programs. Crucially, many of these innovative teams are emerging in locations intimately connected to the complex problems they are endeavoring to solve.
This decentralization of innovation represents the broader, transformative impact of expanding venture capital across America. When investors consciously look beyond familiar networks and engage with founders directly where critical industries operate, they facilitate the conversion of more ideas into viable companies, enable more groundbreaking technologies to reach the market, and empower more communities to actively participate in the nation’s innovation economy. For Moradi, the unwavering optimism lies with the founders who dare to attempt what others deem impossible. "Never forget that we’re here for them. When we do this right, everyone, including humanity, wins.”
Cortado Ventures stands as a testament to this vision, a firm not just investing in companies, but actively shaping a more inclusive and robust future for American innovation. To learn more about the firm and its impactful work, visit cortado.ventures.
