Recap: Midcontinent Venture Capital Summit
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MidCon VC Summit 2023
Thank you to everyone who joined us last week for the inaugural Midcontinent Venture Capital Summit. We had over 230 attendees join us from 35 different cities, 14 states, the District of Columbia and 5 different countries including Mexico, Pakistan and India. Read local media coverage here.
Throughout the event, we heard from numerous speakers, starting with a Founder Panel moderated by Will Gray of Atento Capital. The panelists represented companies across the region from Tulsa, OKC, Bentonville and Dallas, from industries including health/biotech, logistics, AI, and future of work.
We then heard from Oklahoma Ecosystem Builders, including State Senator Jessica Garvin, Build in Tulsa’s Ashli Sims, Kristin Garcia of Verge OKC and Oklahoma State University Research Foundation President Elizabeth Pollard. The panel was moderated by AJ Griffin, Paycom’s director of government & community affairs.
Our Managing Partner Nathaniel Harding moderated the GP Panel which included local GP Erika Lucas of StitchCrew and regional GPs Dan Kerr of Flyover Capital, Michael Mann of Anchor Capital, and Sarah Chen-Spellings, the Managing Partner of Beyond the Billion.
After lunch, we had a lively discussion with institutional investors led by Goldman Sachs Managing Director and former Oklahoma Sec. of Commerce Scott Mueller. Scott was joined by Chase Rankin of the Oklahoma Firefighters Pension and Retirement System, Ashley Roche of the Multilateral Endowment Management Company (MEMCO), Secretary Dan Whitmarsh of the Commissioners of the Land Office, and Winter Mead of Coolwater Capital.
Our final panel focused on family offices, moderated by Aaron Pierce of Perot Jain, with panelists from Koch Industries, RZC Investments, Square Deal Capital and George Kaiser Family Foundation.
The inaugural summit concluded the day with a riveting hour conversation between two-time New York Times best-selling author David Epstein and successful startup founder Dr. James Rogers of Apeel Sciences, a $2B company in the global food space.
We would like to express our gratitude to our sponsors for their generous support, including Citizens Bank of Edmond, the University of Oklahoma Price College of Business, Oklahoma State University Cowboy Technologies, HoganTaylor, Citizen Capital, Atento Capital, GKFF, Saxum, Regent Bank, McAfee & Taft, Bison Technologies, Beneficent, Barnes & Thornburg, SpiritHR, and the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce.
Vote Now: TechCrunch Disrupt Finalists
VOTE NOW: We need your help to take the Summit’s conversations to a global stage with TechCrunch Disrupt, the leading global tech conference. We’re thrilled that Nathaniel Harding, our Managing Partner at Cortado Ventures, and Michael Basch, Atento Capital’s CEO, Founder and General Partner, are Disrupt 2023 Audience Choice finalists. They are leading contenders to host a breakout session titled, “Why Coastal Tech Hubs Should Pay Attention To The Innovation Happening In The Midcontinent.”
We need your help to cross the finish line. Cast your vote for Nathaniel and Michael by May 17th here 👉 Vote Here!