Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF)
In this month’s Doubleshot Newsletter, you will find:
- MoatBio Announces Successful Clinical Trials of Intranasal COVID-19 Vaccine
- Builder Highlight: OKC MED Week
- LP Highlight: Presbyterian Health Foundation
- Cortado’s Due Diligence Process
- Cortado In The News
- Ecosystem News
- Ecosystem Events
MoatBio Announces First Successful Clinical Trials of Intranasal COVID-19 Vaccine
Moat Biotechnology (MoatBio), a new clinical development stage company founded by serial biopharmaceutical entrepreneurs Dr. Scott Rollins and Dr. Russell Rother, announced the completion of their Phase 1 clinical trial of an intranasal COVID-19 vaccine — making them the first company to do so. Cortado Ventures is leading the initial investment in MoatBio, helping further the development of technology solving a real problem and creating a healthier world. Read More.
Builder Highlight: OKC Minority Enterprise Development Week
A consortium of Oklahoma City entrepreneurial groups and leaders will host its 4th annual Minority Enterprise Development Week to spotlight, celebrate, and strengthen businesses owned by racial minorities, women, 2SLGBTQ+, disabled, veteran, and other minority entrepreneurs, held October 10 to October 15, 2022. Cortado Ventures is honored to serve as sponsor this year.
Themed “Open for Business: The Economy Starts with Us,” the weeklong celebration will host a series of networking and educational programming organized with community partners, overlapping with Indigenous People’s Day in Oklahoma City and Hispanic Heritage Month.
NOMINATIONS: The awards ceremony will present $1,000 awards to four central Oklahoma minority entrepreneurs in distinguished leadership, innovative leadership, selfless leadership and charismatic leadership. Nominations for these awards are open to the public for submission through Friday, Sept. 23rd. Submission for award nominations and more information can be found online at www.okcmed.biz
LP Highlight: Presbyterian Health Foundation
Cortado Ventures would like to highlight the Presbyterian Health Foundation, one of the institutional LPs for our fund. Presbyterian Health Foundation’s mission is “Funding medical research discoveries on the Oklahoma Health Center campus that save and enhance life”. From its inception in 1985, PHF has served primarily as a grant-making organization, seeking out proposals from medical research organizations within the Oklahoma Health Center campus with the potential to inspire innovation and bring scientific discoveries to market.
The Presbyterian Health Foundation has funded over $205 million in grants and investments in biomedical research, education, discovery, and health initiatives in Oklahoma, all with the goal of enhancing and saving lives. Its investment in Cortado Ventures will align with its mission and continue to support our efforts to invest in ambitious, growth-driven tech companies, especially in life sciences to enhance the quality of life for all Oklahomans and global citizens.
Cortado’s Due Diligence Process
All entrepreneurs who raise venture capital funds have to go through due diligence, yet it remains one of the more daunting elements of the VC process. We’ve outlined how we, at Cortado, approach due diligence to demystify the process and help you go in feeling prepared. Read More.
Cortado in the News
Oklahoma’s Cortado Ventures Launches Second Half of $80m Fund
Check out our recent feature in Venture Capital Journal about launching the second half of fundraising for our $80 million Fund II goal. Read More.
Meet Nathaniel Harding, Managing Partner at Cortado Ventures
Cortado Managing Partner, Nathaniel Harding, was recently featured in 405 Business. Check out the highlight of his accomplishments both at and outside Cortado. Read More.
Ecosystem News
Gener8tor’s gBETA Program Applications for Fall Cohort
The OKC gBETA program is now accepting applications for our Fall 2022 cohort! The program looking to connect with entrepreneurs and startups who might be interested. gBETA is a program of nationally ranked startup accelerator gener8tor. gBETA is a free accelerator for early-stage companies with local roots. Each program is capped at five teams, and requires no fees and no equity. Application here.
Oklahoma City and Tulsa awarded U.S. EDA’s Build Back Better grants
Oklahoma City and Tulsa were both awarded grants, totaling over $73 million from the U.S. Economic Development Agency for Biotech (OKC) and Advanced Mobility (Tulsa) Innovation. 21 grantees were selected from the over 500 applicants nationwide. Oklahoma and New York are the only states awarded more than one grant. Read More.
36 Degrees North to Expand Entrepreneurial Services with New Building in Tulsa Arts District
Tulsa World covered exciting news from Tulsa’s entrepreneurial engine 36 Degrees North. The organization is expanding their services with a new downtown headquarters. The project will include renovation of historical buildings and bring all three of their current facilities under one roof by 2024. 36 Degrees North CEO Devon Laney serves as an advisor for Cortado Ventures. Read More.
Boyd Street Ventures opens new headquarters on Campus Corner
Venture capital firm Boyd Street Ventures is celebrating their new home on Campus Corner, as covered by The Norman Transcript. The new 3,574-square-foot space will serve as a base for the firm to engage with investors and work with entrepreneurs developing startup companies in Norman. Congrats to our friends at BSV! Read More.
Events in the Ecosystem
Techlahoma’s ThunderPlains Developer Conference
Cortado Ventures is proud to sponsor Techlahoma’s ThunderPlains, Oklahoma’s #1 Web Developer Conference. Hosted in Oklahoma City on Oct. 28th, ThunderPlains focuses on Javascript, Front-end, Start-up, Project manager, Html, Css, Node.js. This year’s keynote speaker is Kent C. Dobbs, Co-Founder and Director of Developer Experience at Remix. Find more information about speakers and registration here.