In this month’s Doubleshot Newsletter, you will find:
- Cortado Ventures Starts Second Close at $40M for Fund II
- Builder Highlight: Oklahoma City Innovation District
- LP Highlight: The Farzaneh Family
- Team Highlight: Thank you Interns
- PortCo Updates
- Cortado In The News
- Events Highlights
Cortado Ventures Starts Second Close at $40M for Fund II
Cortado Ventures has reached half of our $80 million Fund II goal in under five months, and we’ve begun the second close process on the first $40 million funds raised. Fund II will invest in early-stage companies in fintech, aerospace, life sciences, AI, energy technology, and logistics, continuing our focus on backing Oklahoma and the Midcontinent’s success story for generations to come. Learn More
Builder Highlight: Oklahoma City Innovation District
The Oklahoma City Innovation District is one of the key partners in our growing entrepreneurial ecosystem across Oklahoma. The ecosystem of collaboration, innovation and economic growth located in Northeast OKC, surrounded by healthcare, bioscience, aerospace, manufacturing, academia, tech and energy sectors. It reaches into the ecosystem with resources, programming to facilitate collaboration to create new businesses. Learn More.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: The OKCID is hosting Innovation Week on Sept. 13-15, which will welcome ~1,000 middle school students from OKC, Mid-Del, and Millwood Public Schools to the District to experience 20+ STEM simulation activities produced by local companies. The event seeks to increase STEM exposure to students and spark interest in career opportunities. For a successful event, they are seeking many volunteers for this ground-breaking initiative that hasn’t been done in innovation communities anywhere in the U.S. yet. To volunteer, sign up here.
LP Highlight: The Farzaneh Family
This month, we are highlighting another set of LPs: The Farzaneh Family. The multigenerational family of entrepreneurs were featured in 405 Business Magazine earlier this year, highlighting the legacy of the family businesses, including the well-known Home Creations, Inc., as well as Freestyle Creative, a full-service marketing agency. What started with two Iranian-born brothers, Jalal and Mohammad, has grown into a local empire that has made a significant impact on the business, academic, philanthropic and real estate communities. Just like the homes they build, this family has been built on a solid foundation. Read More.
Team Highlight: Thank you Interns
A special thanks also goes to Aaron Salazar Latham who has spent the summer as an analyst intern. We are happy to share that he’ll continue with us this fall in the same role as he continues his academic career at the University of Oklahoma.
A special thanks to our analyst intern Brooks Hensley for his work and service with us. He has been instrumental on our team this year. Brooks has been a Cortado intern since January and has since graduated from the University of Oklahoma. We wish him the very best as he plans his next step in a successful journey. Read more about his internship here.
PortCo Updates
New Investment Alert: Wilder Systems
Cortado Ventures is proud to invest in Wilder Systems, which recently had a funding round led by Plains Ventures. The aerospace robotics company designed the Agile Manufacturing Robot (AMR) to automate military and commercial aircraft manufacturing tasks, which have been historically performed manually or with very expensive equipment. The robotic system can perform various tasks with little to no manpower, including washing aircraft, drilling and defastening – applications the company has been testing at Tinker Air Force Base since January 2022.
This past week, the Oklahoma City City Council recently passed a resolution that will provide Wilder Systems with a $500,000 performance-based jobs incentive package, aiming to create 150 new jobs. Read More.
Cortado in the News
Meet Mike Moradi, General Partner
Cortado Ventures General Partner Mike Moradi has founded, led, and grown several biopharma and nanotech startups. Check out his recent Q&A with Steven Loeb at VatorTV to learn more about his investment philosophy and enthusiasm for healthcare startups in the Midcontinent. Read More
In Search of New Businesses, Oklahoma Accelerator Program Hopes to Build Some from Scratch
We are excited to support a $5 million business accelerator program led by our friends at gener8tor. This is a pivotal step in diversifying Oklahoma’s economy. Check out this article from The Oklahoman featuring Cortado’s Managing Partner Nathaniel Harding to learn more. Read More
Events Highlights
Funder & Founder Dinner
We want to thank Saxum for sponsoring our Funder & Founder Dinner. This private event is geared to bring a small group of our LPs, founders, staff and special guests to connect and spur meaningful relationships.
TEDxOklahomaCity
Cortado Ventures is proud to sponsor TEDxOklahomaCity along with our friends at HoganTaylor. After experiencing unprecedented events the past two years, the event’s theme “Normall” dives into the diversity that creates our perception of what normal is and what it isn’t. This year’s event will feature 10 speakers, including storytellers who are activists, authors, educators, creatives, entrepreneurs, ministers, restaurateurs, and more.
TEDxOklahomaCity will be held at Uptown 23rd’s Tower Theatre on Friday, Sept. 9th from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Find more information about speakers and tickets here.
Oklahoma Venture Forum Power Lunch
On September 14, the Oklahoma Venture Forum Power Lunch will highlight how to move organizations forward through technical innovation, featuring presentations from Ryan Coe of Flogistix and Curt Foster of Bluejay Partners. Register today for a great opportunity to learn and network in OKC’s entrepreneurship ecosystem. Register Now