OKLAHOMA CITY (OBV) — Cortado Ventures has launched a $10 million angel fund targeted to Oklahoma‑based startups, positioning it as catalytic, first‑check capital for founders across the state’s technology economy.
The firm’s message is unambiguous: even as some energy headquarters head south, Oklahoma talent can stay and build the next generation of companies here.
“The idea that there’s still a gap at the earliest stages of financing for Oklahoma companies has been ruminating with us for awhile,” said Susan Moring, general partner at Cortado. “While headquarters may move, the talent that built this city does not have to.”
The idea that there’s still a gap at the earliest stages of financing for Oklahoma companies has been ruminating with us for awhile. While headquarters may move, the talent that built this city does not have to.
– Susan Moring, general partner at Cortado
The move follows two headline developments in Oklahoma City’s legacy energy sector. Devon Energy announced a $58 billion all‑stock merger with Coterra Energy with the combined company headquartered in Houston while keeping a significant presence in Oklahoma City. Days later, Expand Energy said it will relocate its corporate headquarters to Houston by mid‑2026, keeping Oklahoma City as a major operations hub. State business leaders framed both decisions as reminders of interstate competition—and a call to accelerate advanced‑industry growth in Oklahoma.
Moring said Cortado’s angel fund is designed precisely for that moment. The vehicle will write earlier, smaller checks than the firm’s core funds and accept a broader range of business types, including some that are too early or not yet a fit for the firm’s B2B‑focused venture funds.
“In our world, an ‘angel’ financing comes in even earlier than a typical venture fund would,” Moring said. “We want to catch startups really early—even before revenue or customers—so more ideas get a chance to take root here.”
A platform that’s matured and a call to build
Cortado launched in 2020 and has raised two core funds to date: a $20 million Fund I (2021) and an $80 million Fund II (2023) with a growing MidCon regional thesis (Oklahoma, Dallas, Houston, Northwest Arkansas, Denver).
The firm is continuing its Oklahoma‑anchored but regional strategy via its next core fund, and is separately working on a dedicated frontier technologies strategy.
The new angel fund narrows in geographically while broadening sector aperture. The focus is software and the physical economy including automation, advanced manufacturing, AI, energy‑transition technologies, aerospace and defense, and related industrial solutions.
Cortado’s B2B bias still informs the approach—software that scales remains attractive—but the angel fund is intentionally flexible on category and stage.
Moring emphasized job quality and talent retention as core outcomes.
“Across the board, these companies generate high‑paying roles—engineers, product managers, data scientists,” she said. “We have founders here building in energy tech and industrial software. We also have companies hiring chemical and mechanical engineers in hydrogen and other climate‑oriented areas. There’s real demand—and an opening to keep that talent in Oklahoma.”
Why Oklahoma and why now
Founders, Moring said, benefit from Oklahoma’s “small big city” dynamics: short paths to customers, mentors, and decision‑makers; and a lower burn rate.
“In startups, how you fail is you run out of cash before you hit the next milestone,” she said. “Here, a dollar goes further. It’s not about ‘cheap labor,’ it’s about efficient build cycles and access. You’re one degree of separation from the industry leader you need to meet.”
That connectivity is increasingly visible at The Verge OKC, the nonprofit platform built with support from Flourish OKC, Inasmuch Foundation, and Cortado.
The Verge provides workspace, programming and a “no‑wrong‑door” intake into mentors, resources and capital. Moring pointed to companies that started as single‑founder tenants and grew out of the space as evidence of a maturing pipeline.
“I can walk you around two floors and introduce you to 10 tech entrepreneurs actively building,” Moring said. “Some are $10–$25 million companies today; the point is they’re on the path. And they’re here.”
Risk, portfolio logic, and the Oklahoma thesis
Angel‑stage investing carries risk by design.
“Out of every 10 companies, five or six won’t work,” Moring said. “Two or three are base hits. You’re aiming for one big winner to make the fund. The answer is portfolio diversification across sectors within our software‑plus‑industry lane, and across stages.”
Even so, Moring argues the reward profile is compelling for Oklahoma.
“If we back more founders earlier, we increase the number of shots on goal,” she said. “The north star is outcomes that look like a Paycom‑scale employer. Maybe not identical, but hundreds to thousands of high‑wage jobs, long‑term community investment, and a durable innovation culture.”
How to engage
Cortado has opened a formal application on its website for founders interested in the angel fund. Moring noted surging inbound interest since the announcement—“a lot of LinkedIn messages,” she said—but underscored that the website intake is the right path to be evaluated consistently.
“We’ve been ruminating on this a while,” she added. “The recent HQ news made it clear. This is the right time to move.”
Cortado’s new angel fund wagers that Oklahoma’s engineers and operators will build here and that early, patient capital can tilt the odds.
