Cortado Ventures, Oklahoma VC firm, bringing summit to Bentonville in May

Cortado Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm in Oklahoma City with more than $110 million in assets under management (AUM), will host its second annual Midcontinent Venture Capital Summit on May 9 at Ledger in downtown Bentonville.

Cortado Ventures is bringing the event to Northwest Arkansas to highlight the flourishing startup technology industry in middle America. Last year’s gathering in Oklahoma drew over 250 founders, investors and supporters of entrepreneurial ecosystems from 15 states and five countries. Among them were more than 60 seed-stage founders and over 100 accredited investors, collectively representing $100 billion in AUM.

Anticipated speakers and panelists in Bentonville include VC general partners, institutional investors, family office managers, founders, government officials and startup ecosystem builders.

Cortado Ventures is one of the region’s most active seed investors and focuses its investments on early-stage companies in the mid-south, defined as Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Colorado, Kansas and New Mexico. It is the largest VC firm of its kind in Oklahoma, referring to a traditionally structured firm with all minority limited partners. Nathaniel Harding is the managing partner.

Harding said the Bentonville event will highlight the innovators and supporters leading an emerging wave of innovation in areas other than the coasts.

For example, Bentonville software provider Ox is led by founder and CEO Charu Thomas. Last year, the company, which provides an AI-powered technology platform for frontline operations, announced a $12.6 million Series A funding round. BBG Ventures and MaC Venture Capital co-led the oversubscribed round.

Several existing investors also participated, including Cortado Ventures.

“Bentonville is a natural fit for the Summit,” Harding said. “Northwest Arkansas embodies this wave of innovation focused on real solutions for hard problems in areas like logistics, and offers the quality of life, corporate engagement and a fair chance that attracts ambitious entrepreneurs.

“Bentonville is flourishing for startup tech investment, and the world should know.”

Registration and ticket information are at this link.