Ecosystem highlights and Mid-year updates of Cortado’s portfolio companies
Line Up Front (BLUF)
This month, we are highlighting exciting updates from our portfolio companies in our mid-year review. gener8tor was selected to manage the new State of Oklahoma Business Accelerator in Oklahoma City. Nathaniel Harding and Susan Moring regularly provide industry insights on Medium, highlighting key knowledge for our ecosystem. Check out Cortado’s very own Nathaniel and Mike Moradi in The Wall Street Journal Pro Venture Capital Newsletter and David Woods on This is Oklahoma podcast. In addition, Nathaniel Harding was ranked among OKC Friday’s 50 Most Powerful Oklahomans.
- Builder Highlight: gener8tor
- Portfolio Mid-Year Review
- Industry Insights from Cortado Leadership
- Cortado In The News
Builder Highlight: gener8tor to manage Oklahoma City Business Accelerator
gener8tor has been selected to manage the Oklahoma City Business Accelerator by the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science & Technology (OCAST). The new $15 million State of Oklahoma Business Accelerator Program is designed to create jobs and grow companies in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and rural areas. This will be a game changer for Oklahoma’s entrepreneurial ecosystem leveraging federal dollars.
HIRING: gener8tor is looking for a Managing Director to head up the Oklahoma City Business Accelerator. This is an incredible opportunity for individuals with entrepreneurial experience who want to support Oklahoma’s economic development. gener8tor is also hiring a Program Manager for their local gBETA program, which has raised $385M+ in capital and created 2,965+ jobs around the country. Learn More
Portfolio Mid-Year Review
To date, Cortado has invested in 27 companies, culminating to a nearly $600M total enterprise value. Congratulations to several of our portfolio companies who completed up-rounds already this year including MITO, Satellite, PipeDream Labs and Recuro Health. Here are some other recent highlights across the portfolio:
Ardley sells mortgage automation tools to the country’s largest mortgage servicers and originators. Since Cortado’s first investment in January 2022, Ardley has tripled their number of customers and grown their recurring revenue 6x.
Boddle Learning is a game-based learning platform that helps K-12 teachers assess students’ learning to improve academic outcomes in STEM. The web and app-based technology has formed key partnerships with AT&T and is a graduate of the Google Startups program.
DexPump had its patent application approved by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”) in March 2022.
Exum has pre-sold several of their MassBox tools this year, with the goal of delivering all units later this year. Though early, the tools are performing exceptionally well. These customers will provide important data around tool performance and customer satisfaction that will support the company’s growth.
MITO generated its first commercial revenue last year when their material was manufactured into a line of high-performance custom skis. MITO is gaining traction with other customers in the sporting goods space. Early this year they raised an additional round of funding.
Ox Fulfilment Solutions has landed 3 commercial pilots and is building out its pipeline of retail and warehouse customers. They are rapidly scaling their tech and support teams to be able to serve multiple enterprise clients in the next few months.
PipeDream Labs seeks to transform last mile delivery through a network of underground pipes. They completed a Seed round earlier this year and are actively installing pipes in their first pilot city.
Recuro Health is building the next generation in health care by delivering value throughout the healthcare ecosystem with an integrated digital health solution. The company acquired WellVia in March with the support of a convertible note co-led by Cortado Ventures & ARCH Venture Partners. The company has been recognized by the World Economic Forum as a promising Technology Pioneer and its CEO Michael Gorton received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year.
Relativity6 launched their NAICS code lookup product in the Fall of 2021, and promptly doubled their run rate on the new product in the first two months since launch. Since investment, they’ve released new features and grown their customer base with new insurance and financial services customers.
Satellite is a decentralized workforce training and placement program that connects talent to remote roles in tech sales. It recently was named one of the “Best Tech Sales Bootcamps” by Course Report, the leading authority on bootcamps. It also expanded its team, launched overlapping cohorts and an onboarding programing to support candidates in the first 90 days.
Sway continues to see success in the sports market and is getting early traction with their new product for the clinical market, specifically with large physical therapy clinics. They are outperforming revenue forecasts, and they continue to build a strong team headquartered in Tulsa.
Watkins-Conti Products is currently in clinical trials with its flagship product, the Yoni.Fit, a device to reduce incontinence in women. It has also had several patents approved by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”).
Volt is a texting platform that empowers companies to connect with customers 1 on 1 and remain in compliance. It has grown steadily since Cortado’s first investment in May 2020. Volt just launched their new SMS Middleware product, which will allow them to add value to messaging companies of all sizes by providing deliverability data and integrations with SMS providers.
Industry Insights from Cortado Leadership
On our Medium publication, the leadership of Cortado regularly publishes key insights about movement within our portfolio, specific industries and venture capital.
Here are the latest insights:
Cortado’s Investment Thesis — a 5-minute explainer | Thinking about pitching your startup to our team at Cortado? Read on to gain a better understanding of the type of companies we’re most likely to invest in.
The Landscape: What Midcontinent Investors Are Looking for in Startups | There are three important metrics that Midcon VCs utilize to determine if a startup is a strong investment.
19DAYS — TILL WHAT? | Q&A with Joey Wignarajah, co-founder of Oklahoma’s first venture studio, backed by Cortado Ventures.
Reinventing mortgage with Ardley | Mortgage automation so good, you can Ardley believe it.
Cortado in the News
Cortado featured in The Wall Street Journal Pro Venture Capital Newsletter
Cortado Ventures Managing Partner Nathaniel Harding and General Partner Mike Moradi, were featured in The Wall Street Journal Pro Venture Capital Newsletter. They shared why we back innovators in the middle of the country, and how we leverage our network of executives to support our PortCo founders. Read More
David Woods featured on This is Oklahoma podcast
Cortado General Partner David Woods serves as CEO of Magellan Executive Partners where he helps executives grow their company revenues and profits through strategic planning and leadership development. Leadership of our portfolio companies each receive executive coaching through Magellan. David adds tremendous value to our portfolio companies by leveraging his extensive experience as CEO of Ditch Witch and EXIM Group. To learn more about David’s career, listen to his interview with Mike Hearne on This is Oklahoma podcast. Listen Now
Nathaniel Harding ranked among OKC Friday’s 50 Most Powerful Oklahomans by OKC Friday
Alongside other influential business and political leaders, OKC Friday ranked our Managing Partner Nathaniel Harding at 30th on their latest list of 50 Most Powerful Oklahomans, one of the youngest to be listed. Read More