“The vision is not only to bring the world to Oklahoma City, but to bring Oklahoma City to the world.”

That’s what Christian Kanady, a founding partner of Echo Investment Capital, said drives his teams’ focus to connect the Oklahoma City venture capital and entrepreneurial ecosystem with global talent, ideas and resources.

And Kanady’s team vision is not a siloed, lofty one.

In fact, it is a vision shared by several Oklahoma City venture capitalists and entrepreneurs, another of which is Nathaniel Harding of Cortado Ventures.

“We (Oklahoma City) have the talent and spirit, and now we also have the critical mass of smart money, hungry entrepreneurs and intellectual infrastructure to support tech startups in adjacent sectors," Harding said. “The significance of all this can’t be overstated; We’re seeing the beginning of what will define OKC for the next 100 years, just as oil & gas defined the city over the last 100 years.”

As Harding notes, venture capital and entrepreneurship haven’t always been industries the state has been known for (or good at). In many ways, both industries are in their infancy stages, while others paved the way for these industries to gain their footing.

Read the full story on VeloCityOKC.com.