Cortado Ventures Doubleshot Newsletter: March 2026

by | Mar 11, 2026 | Media, Newsletters

BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front)

This month, we spotlight the launch of our $10M Angel Fund supporting Oklahoma startups and share insights from General Partner Susan Moring on the exit of Devon Energy and Expand Energy from OKC and the new era taking shape.

Read our latest Why We Invested blog featuring Tobe Energy, a clean energy company working to power a more sustainable future. As we head into March, we also recognize Women’s History Month by highlighting women founders across our portfolio.

This month’s Portco Highlight features Payfactory, alongside portfolio updates from Exum, Lumata Health, Wilder Systems, and Agile Space. We close with open roles across the portfolio, an Ecosystem Builder Highlight on New Mexico Innovation Hub, and upcoming events across the region.

Newsletter Elements

  • Cortado News
    • Announcing our $10M Angel Fund
    • GP Susan Moring discusses the future of OK
    • Why We Invested: Tobe Energy
    • The Women Leading the Build
  • Portco News
    • Portco Highlight: Payfactory
    • Portcos In The News
      • Agile Space
      • Lumata Health
      • EXUM
      • Wilder Systems
    • Portco Jobs
  • Ecosystem News & Events
    • Builder Highlight: New Mexico Innovation Hub
    • Upcoming Events

Cortado News

Announcing our $10M Angel Fund

In the wake of headquarters departures from Devon Energy and Expand Energy, Cortado Ventures is leaning in with a $10M Oklahoma-only angel fund designed to back the next generation of tech-driven companies building right here in Oklahoma. The fund will provide early, catalytic capital to founders across software, AI, aerospace, cybersecurity, and industrial tech, and aims to keep Oklahoma’s deep bench of engineering and energy talent rooted in the state.

Read the full press release here.

After the energy era, OKC’s next chapter starts now

Oklahoma City is at a turning point. As two of our most visible energy companies move their headquarters to Houston, we have a rare chance to decide what kind of city we want to be over the next 30 years. General Partner Susan Moring chooses to signal clearly that the future of OKC will be built on technology, innovation, and the people who choose to stay and build here.

Read the full OpEd here.

Why We Invested: Tobe Energy

This month, we’re sharing why we invested in Tobe Energy, an Oklahoma City–based startup rethinking how green hydrogen is produced. Rather than improving legacy electrolysis hardware incrementally, Tobe has rebuilt the system from the circuit up, using resonant power electronics to dramatically reduce energy loss and increase efficiency. Their patent-pending, membrane-less electrolyzer has the potential to cut the cost of green hydrogen by more than half while operating at system efficiencies above 90%.

We believe step change innovations like this are essential if hydrogen is going to compete with fossil fuels on cost, reliability, and scalability. With strong industrial demand, high delivered hydrogen prices, and a deep bench of energy operators, Oklahoma is an ideal place to prove this technology at scale.

Read our full Why We Invested blog to learn more about Tobe’s technology, the founding team, and why we believe the company is well positioned to help define the next chapter of the energy economy.

Read the full blog here: Why We Invested: Tobe Energy

Connect with Tobe Energy on LinkedIn

The Women Leading the Build

Capital shapes the future. So does who receives it.

This Women’s History Month, we are proud to highlight a few of the women in our portfolio who are leading from the front. These founders are building companies, advancing science, transforming healthcare, and creating economic momentum across the Midcontinent and beyond.

Through our series, The Women Leading the Build, we are featuring:

These founders are not symbolic leaders. They are operators. Scientists. Builders. Visionaries. They are navigating regulation, raising capital, scaling teams, and bringing complex solutions to market in industries that demand resilience and precision.

Backing diverse founders is not a seasonal initiative for us. It is part of our investment philosophy. When capital flows to leaders across geographies, backgrounds, and disciplines, stronger companies and stronger communities are built.

We invite you to read each feature written by Joy Akande and get to know the women shaping what comes next.

Read more on Cortado Ventures Viewpoints here

Portco News

Portco Highlight: Payfactory

Meet this month’s Portco highlight, Payfactory, a fintech company based in Tulsa, OK that is founded and led by Ruston Miles. Observing merchant frustration with traditional payment processing and recognizing the shift toward embedded finance, Payfactory created its platform to transform how software companies integrate payments into their applications.

Payfactory provides advanced payment facilitation solutions to simplify the merchant onboarding process for ISVs, vertical SaaS platforms, and software companies. Their gateway-friendly platform analyzes merchant data in real time to enable immediate approvals and next-day funding, taking a process that could take days and doing it in minutes. This streamlined approach eliminates lengthy application processes, requires minimal development work to embed payments, and creates new revenue streams for software companies while maintaining the highest security standards.

We invested in Payfactory in 2022 because we saw how the company could revolutionize the embedded payments landscape. Miles brings over 25 years of payment processing experience, having previously founded Bluefin Payment Solutions which became a leader in payment security. His proven track record and vision for frictionless, secure payment facilitation positioned the company to capture the growing embedded finance market. We are proud to back Payfactory and excited to see their next move. Read about Why We Invested in Payfactory on our Cortado Ventures Insights page.

Keep up with Payfactory: Website | LinkedIn

 

Portcos In The News

Agile Space Closes $17M Series A, and Featured on News on 6 for Tulsa Space Test Center

Agile Space Industries was featured on News on 6 for its development of the Tulsa Space Test Center. This project marks a significant expansion of Oklahoma’s presence in aerospace and space technology.

In addition, the company closed a $17M Series A round, bringing total funding to approximately $40M. The capital will support growing demand for Agile’s propulsion systems and expand operational capacity as development of the Space Test Center advances.

Read the full Series A Press Release Here.
Read about the Space Test Center Here.

Lumata Health Study Shows Improved Treatment Adherence

A new study shows Lumata Health’s Continuous Care model significantly improves adherence to vision-saving treatments, helping more patients stay on track with critical retina care and reducing the risk of irreversible vision loss. The results show a 17% improvement over typical attrition rates.

Further advancing proactive vision care, CEO Landon Grace authored an article in Ophthalmology Management outlining how updates to the 2026 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Physician Fee Schedule unlock new reimbursement pathways for remote patient monitoring and at-home Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT). The analysis highlights expanded Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) eligibility, updated billing codes, and stronger financial support for scaling continuous care models.

Read the full study here.
Read Grace’s full article here.

EXUM Instruments Announces Next Generation of Massbox®

EXUM Instruments announced the launch of its next generation Massbox®, designed to deliver faster, more sensitive, and more versatile solid sample chemistry analysis. The upgraded desktop instrument expands application flexibility across research, industrial, and materials science environments.

By increasing speed and analytical performance while maintaining portability, the new Massbox® further advances accessible materials characterization technology and strengthens EXUM’s position in next-generation analytical instrumentation.

Read the announcement here.

Wilder Systems Advances Aircraft Manufacturing with Automated Robotic Sanding Cell

Wilder Systems announced the delivery and commissioning of a fully integrated automated robotic sanding cell for Hughes Bros. Aircrafters, supporting aircraft production and maintenance operations. The project required custom system design, precision engineering, and full deployment integration tailored to the client’s operational needs.

This milestone highlights Wilder’s ability to execute complex automation projects from concept through installation, reinforcing its role in advancing robotics-driven solutions within aerospace manufacturing.

Read the full press release here.

Portco Jobs

Our portfolio companies are growing. Explore open roles across sectors from engineering and sales to data science and operations.

Ecosystem News & Events

Builder Highlight: New Mexico Innovation Hub

Our Builder Highlight this month is the New Mexico Innovation Hub, a statewide initiative working to strengthen and better connect New Mexico’s innovation ecosystem. Serving as a central front door for entrepreneurs, researchers, investors, and industry partners, the Hub streamlines access to critical resources, capital pathways, and collaborative opportunities. It sits at the center of a uniquely advantaged state that is home to three national laboratories, three major universities, and more than $1 billion in in-state investment capital through New Mexico’s $61B sovereign wealth fund while leveraging leadership in energy production and renewables to drive growth in advanced energy, climate tech, aerospace, bioscience, intelligent manufacturing, and quantum computing.

Rather than operating as a traditional accelerator, the Innovation Hub focuses on coordination, commercialization, and long-term ecosystem development. Through state-of-the-art facilities in Santa Fe and a planned 82-acre Albuquerque Sunport campus designed for R&D and advanced manufacturing, the Hub is building the physical infrastructure to help companies prototype, scale, and stay rooted in New Mexico. By aligning universities, national laboratories, industry, and global partners, it reduces silos and strengthens pathways from research to market, cultivating a more cohesive and resilient innovation economy statewide.

Keep up with the New Mexico Innovation Hub:
Website | Linkedin

Ecosystem Events