Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF)
This month we start by highlighting StarSpace46, a hub for coworking and entrepreneurship. Next, we share news about our most recent investment in Recuro and the addition of Tom Leydorf to our team as an advisor. We are excited to share our new brand video that introduces our background and team members. Following the brand video, Oklahoma Venture Forum recognized two Cortado companies as finalists for “Most promising new venture”. Next, we wanted to share information on the upcoming “OKC Tech++” event later this month and highlight Cortado’s recent national press coverage, including Forbes and TechCrunch. To conclude this month’s newsletter, we share an article on how venture capital works and an article Partner David Woods wrote for the OKC Friday paper.
What Lies Ahead:
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Builders Highlight: StarSpace46
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New Investment Announcement: Recuro Health
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Tom Leydorf Added As Advisor
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Brand Video Announcement
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Cortado Companies Recognized by Oklahoma Venture Forum
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OKC Tech++ Event
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Cortado In The News: Forbes, TechCrunch, Times of E, The Deal
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Venture Capital 101: Cap Table
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Article: “Oklahoma: Trust Is Our Currency” by David Woods
Builders Highlight: StarSpace 46
This month, Cortado highlights one of the groups that is helping to build Oklahoma’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. StarSpace46 is one of OKC’s premier hubs for technology and innovation offering coworking space, offices for rent, and meeting rooms. StarSpace46 was designed to help tech startups and entrepreneurs in Oklahoma develop their businesses. They provide new business owners with access to temporary offices and meeting spaces for startup events.
New Investment Announcement: Recuro Health
Cortado Ventures is excited to announce its new investment in Recuro Health. Recuro Health is a digital health startup designed to provide a “digital medical home” for patients, by providing a suite of offerings to make health maintenance and improvement easy and effective, while inspiring members to live healthier lives. The Recuro Health system will provide products, tools, analytics, and services for patients at various intervals in a patient’s medical health journey. The Seed investment led by OLSF Ventures of Oklahoma will help Michael Gorton, founding CEO of Teladoc, and his team build out Recuro’s offerings to provide an integrated and robust approach to health management.
Tom Leydorf Added As Advisor
Tom Leydorf has joined Cortado Ventures as an advisor specializing in federal contracting and the U.S. Intelligence Community. Mr. Leydorf is the Chief Strategy Officer at Chickasaw Nation Industries, Inc (CNI), which owns and operates over a dozen companies. Mr. Leydorf will work with potential and current portfolio companies to identify and enable opportunities to secure contracts with federal agencies in areas where Cortado invests, including aerospace, agriculture, and energy. Mr. Leydorf brings 30 years of experience in the public and private sectors to provide counsel and connections for management teams with innovative solutions, with tremendous potential for many aspects of the federal government.
Brand Video Announcement
Cortado is happy to share our new brand video that introduces our background and how we are working to grow Oklahoma into a hub for technology startups. Thanks to our friends at Freestyle Creative. In this video, we share how the different members of our team work together to identify and invest in startups that have the potential to grow into profitable businesses.
Watch the video here.
Cortado Companies Recognized by Oklahoma Venture Forum
Two Cortado companies, Drov and RespondFlow, were recognized as finalists for “Most promising new venture” by Oklahoma Venture Forum. OVF will hold its award ceremony on May 12th and announce the winner. The Oklahoma Venture Forum is a non-profit organization formed in 1987. OVF is dedicated to supporting entrepreneurial ecosystems and economic development in Oklahoma.
OKC Tech++ Event
Cortado has been working with other members of the OKC tech and startup communities to host a mixer on April 29th for those interested in tech, startups, and entrepreneurship to connect and learn more.
Tickets are free to the public and can be reserved here.
Cortado In The News
Cortado was recently covered by Forbes, TechCrunch, Times of Entrepreneurship, and The Deal about successfully closing our fund and backing entrepreneurs in this part of the country sometimes overlooked. It is an honor to tell the story of Oklahoma entrepreneurship on the national stage.
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Forbes: Read the full article here.
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TechCrunch: Read the full article here.
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Times of Entrepreneurship: Read the full article here.
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The Deal: Read the full article here.
Venture Capital 101: Cap Table
A cap table is a list of your company’s equity securities that includes stock, options, and warrants, and that identifies who owns what security. Cap tables are usually divided into two summary buckets: “founders” and “investors” or by detail. As an entrepreneur, you need a cap table in order to be informed and make good decisions that impact your capitalization, and your potential future investors will also want to see and understand your cap table as part of their due diligence process. While there is no right way to format a cap table, it is recommended that it be formatted according to the questions you are wanting to answer. To learn more about cap tables, click here.
Here is a great resource to help venture capitalists model cap tables.
Article: “Oklahoma: Trust Is Our Currency” by David Woods
“Home-grown entrepreneurs are blossoming in Oklahoma, and other amazing entrepreneurs have discovered how Oklahoma is the perfect location for their business. Investors inside and outside of Oklahoma are investing here. Why? Well, there are certainly many notable reasons, such as great entrepreneurs, the cost of living, great schools, an infrastructure that support entrepreneurs and investors anxious to invest.”
Partner David Woods wrote an article for the OKC Friday paper on how Oklahoma’s culture is perfect for entrepreneurs and investors. Read the full article here.