Key Takeaways
- • Atento Capital, a venture firm whose sole limited partner is the George Kaiser Family Foundation, is recruiting Latin American early-stage startups to relocate operations to Tulsa, Oklahoma, offering a $100,000 relocation package to cover visas, office space, and housing.
- • Atento takes no equity stake in exchange for the relocation package, with the firm's stated aim being to diversify Tulsa's economy through philanthropic capital rather than purely financial returns.
- • Founder Michael Basch reports that eight of the 11 companies in the first cohort, which arrived last fall, have indicated they want to relocate to Tulsa.
- • The program is working with life sciences and hard-sciences startups sourced through the Latin American accelerator GridX, with Monte Caldera (Mexico) and Migma (Argentina) among the second-cohort companies considering the move.
- • Basch plans to expand the program through partnerships with the governments of Chile and Argentina, pointing to the foundation's Tulsa Remote program as precedent.
Summary
At a New York demo day held on a Tuesday in the Lower East Side, a group of early-stage Latin American founders pitched venture investors, several of whom planned to use their funding to move operations to Tulsa, Oklahoma, a city not generally regarded as a startup hub. Fortune reports that the initiative is led by Michael Basch and his firm Atento Capital, whose sole backer is the George Kaiser Family Foundation. The foundation previously championed Tulsa Remote, a program launched in 2018 that paid remote employees to relocate to the city.
Atento's model pairs venture sourcing with a relocation incentive. The firm works with Latin American hard-sciences startups to help them raise venture funding and provides a $100,000 relocation package covering visas, office space, and housing. Atento does not take an equity stake in return. According to Fortune, the structure, with a single family-foundation limited partner, allows the firm to pursue an economic-development mission alongside returns. Basch described the approach as a model for using philanthropic incentives to channel venture capital into a city's economy.
Atento began with GridX, a Latin American venture firm and accelerator focused on life sciences, a sector Fortune notes is strong in the region due to its research universities. Basch saw an opportunity to bring GridX startups to Tulsa, which has a background in research and manufacturing, to access seed capital from U.S. investors unlikely to travel to Latin America. Of the first cohort of 11 companies, eight have indicated interest in relocating. A second cohort recently arrived in Tulsa, with Monte Caldera and Migma, an Argentine antioxidant developer, among the startups considering a move. Migma CEO Sofia Garcia Franco said Oklahoma and Tulsa offer an opportunity because the city is developing an ecosystem.
The initiative arrives amid heated U.S. debate over immigration and skilled-worker visas. Fortune notes that Oklahoma is one of the most Republican-leaning states, with 66% of voters backing Trump in the last election. Basch argued the program has bipartisan appeal, saying most Americans would want to attract top global scientists and entrepreneurs. Monte Caldera CEO Hector Medina said regulatory uncertainty is part of the startup experience. Basch plans to expand the program with Chile and Argentina, citing the foundation's record of scaling initiatives such as Tulsa Remote, which grew from an initial goal of 10 participants to thousands.
Atento's model pairs venture sourcing with a relocation incentive. The firm works with Latin American hard-sciences startups to help them raise venture funding and provides a $100,000 relocation package covering visas, office space, and housing. Atento does not take an equity stake in return. According to Fortune, the structure, with a single family-foundation limited partner, allows the firm to pursue an economic-development mission alongside returns. Basch described the approach as a model for using philanthropic incentives to channel venture capital into a city's economy.
Atento began with GridX, a Latin American venture firm and accelerator focused on life sciences, a sector Fortune notes is strong in the region due to its research universities. Basch saw an opportunity to bring GridX startups to Tulsa, which has a background in research and manufacturing, to access seed capital from U.S. investors unlikely to travel to Latin America. Of the first cohort of 11 companies, eight have indicated interest in relocating. A second cohort recently arrived in Tulsa, with Monte Caldera and Migma, an Argentine antioxidant developer, among the startups considering a move. Migma CEO Sofia Garcia Franco said Oklahoma and Tulsa offer an opportunity because the city is developing an ecosystem.
The initiative arrives amid heated U.S. debate over immigration and skilled-worker visas. Fortune notes that Oklahoma is one of the most Republican-leaning states, with 66% of voters backing Trump in the last election. Basch argued the program has bipartisan appeal, saying most Americans would want to attract top global scientists and entrepreneurs. Monte Caldera CEO Hector Medina said regulatory uncertainty is part of the startup experience. Basch plans to expand the program with Chile and Argentina, citing the foundation's record of scaling initiatives such as Tulsa Remote, which grew from an initial goal of 10 participants to thousands.
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