Cortado Ventures backs early-stage founders building scalable companies across the Midcontinent, with a focus on long-term value creation and regional growth.
BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front)
This month, we share our investments in two companies, Quantum Space, a space infrastructure company led by former NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, and Purple Rhombus, a cybersecurity company leveraging drone technology to help organizations identify vulnerabilities and strengthen their defenses against evolving threats.
We also highlight our upcoming Pitch Competition with The Verge OKC, where Oklahoma founders will compete for investment capital and the opportunity to pitch in front of investors and ecosystem leaders. This edition includes a look at upcoming events our team will be attending, a spotlight on Tobe Energy, and recent momentum across the portfolio, including updates from Agile Space Industries and Dockware. We close with portfolio companies making headlines and share opportunities to stay connected with innovation happening across the Midcontinent and beyond.
Newsletter Elements
- Cortado News
- New Investment: Quantum Space
- New Investment: Purple Rhombus
- The Verge OKC x Cortado Ventures Angel Fund Pitch Competition
- Events We’re Attending
- Portco News
- Portco Highlight
- Tobe Energy
- Portcos In The News
- Dockware
- Agile Space
- CorriXR Therapeutics
- Portco Jobs
- Portco Highlight
Cortado News
New Investment: Quantum Space
We recently invested in Quantum Space, a space infrastructure company focused on expanding access, mobility, and logistics beyond Earth orbit. Led by former NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, Quantum Space is developing the Ranger spacecraft platform and other technologies designed to support operations throughout cislunar space, helping enable the next generation of commercial and government space missions.
Recently, Quantum Space announced plans for a new manufacturing facility in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to support production of its Ranger spacecraft platform, while also unveiling plans to become a publicly traded company through a merger with Inflection Point Acquisition Corp. VI. Together, these milestones position the company to scale operations and meet growing demand for space mobility and infrastructure solutions.
Read more here.
Keep up with Quantum Space: Website | Linkedin
New Investment: Purple Rhombus
We recently invested in Purple Rhombus, an Austin-based aerospace and defense company that designs, builds, and delivers low-cost unmanned aircraft systems engineered for mass production. Using sheet-metal processes that draw on the existing U.S. industrial base, Purple Rhombus produces a family of modular systems at volume and low cost, including the Group 2 Grackle and the longer-range Group 3 PR-2, both built for rapid configuration and field-level payload changes.
Purple Rhombus brings a manufacturing-first approach to defense aviation, producing operationally relevant aircraft on existing American industrial capacity. Its ability to deliver low-cost systems at scale while serving both commercial and government customers aligns with our focus on aerospace and defense and on companies whose growth strengthens the Midcontinent’s industrial base.
Read more here.
Keep up with Purple Rhombus: Website | LinkedIn
The Verge OKC x Cortado Ventures Angel Fund Pitch Competition
Join us on July 15 from 4:00–7:00 PM at The Verge OKC as Oklahoma startups take the stage and compete for a $10,000 investment through an uncapped SAFE.
Know an Oklahoma founder building something great?
Please send them this link: Pitch Application
Applications to pitch are open now through June 26, and guests are welcome to RSVP and attend the competition.
RSVP to watch & attend the competition here!
Events We’re Attending
A look at where our team is connecting with the ecosystem this month.
06/11 – Crow’s Nest Mixer – Oklahoma City, OK
06/17 – Oklahoma State Chamber Annual Meeting – Oklahoma City, OK
06/23 – HF0 Demo Day – San Francisco, CA
06/26-06/28 – Summer Startup – Oklahoma City, OK
Portco News
Portco Highlight: Tobe Energy
Meet this month’s Portco highlight, Tobe Energy, an Oklahoma City-based clean energy company founded and led by Colby DeWeese. Recognizing that green hydrogen has long been dismissed as too expensive to compete with fossil fuels, DeWeese and his team set out to rebuild electrolysis from the ground up.
Tobe Energy produces industrial-grade green hydrogen at over 92% system efficiency, with no rare earth metals, no waste heat, and no compromise on performance. Their patent-pending, membrane-free electrolyzer uses resonant power electronics and precision-shaped pulses to deliver energy directly where hydrogen forms, operating at near-ambient temperatures where conventional systems run dangerously hot. The result is a technology that cuts green hydrogen production costs by more than half, runs on 95% U.S.-sourced components, and can be deployed as a modular, on-site unit directly at customer facilities. Most recently, Tobe Energy launched NODE-01, a fully containerized, plug-and-play hydrogen production system designed to make clean hydrogen accessible wherever it’s needed.
We invested in Tobe Energy in 2025 because we believe step-change innovations like this are what it will take for hydrogen to genuinely compete with fossil fuels. DeWeese brings deep process engineering experience across oil, gas, and petrochemical systems, including leading the design of the first zero-emission hydrogen boiler of its kind. His co-founder, Dr. Caleb Lareau, brings complementary depth across scientific research, complementing DeWeese’s engineering background.
Read about Why We Invested in Tobe Energy on our Cortado Ventures Insights page.
Keep up with Tobe Energy: Website| LinkedIn
Portcos In The News
Dockware Receives NTEP Certification
Dockware announced it has received full NTEP certification for what it says is the first fully autonomous dimensioning product on the market, along with certification for its camera-only mobile app.
Read more here.
Agile Space Industries CEO Speaks at La Plata Conference
Agile Space Industries CEO Chris Pearson recently shared updates on the company’s continued growth at the La Plata Economic Development Alliance in Durango, CO. The updates included expanding operations, contribution to the local economy, and plans for future job creation. As demand for advanced propulsion technologies continues to grow across the aerospace sector, Agile Space remains focused on scaling its capabilities while strengthening the region’s position as a hub for aerospace innovation.
Ready more here.
CorriXR Therapeutics Featured by Delaware Business Times for Continued Advancement in Cancer Therapies
As precision medicine continues to reshape oncology, CorriXR Therapeutics is focused on addressing one of cancer treatment’s most persistent challenges: therapeutic resistance. The company is developing novel therapies for squamous cell cancers by targeting the mechanisms that enable tumors to evade treatment. Delaware Business Times recently highlighted CorriXR among the bioscience companies helping shape the future of medicine.
Read more here.
Portco Jobs –
Our portfolio companies are growing. Explore open roles across sectors from engineering and sales to data science and operations.
- Agile Space
- Contracts Manager
- Senior Machinist
- See more openings here
- Apricot Health
- ArborXR
- Lumata Health
- Onto Health
- oPRO AI
- Ox, Inc.
- Pipedream Labs
- Recuro Health
- Safety Radar
- Volt
What’s Happening in the Midcontinent?
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The next edition comes out on June 17th! Click here to start getting updates.