MBN was on the road to cover PitchMI’s Finals competition on Tuesday, April 7. The MSU Research Foundation hosted the event at Grewal Hall in Lansing from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

PitchMI brought together four founders from Michigan-built startups spanning healthcare, AI, navigation technology, and sustainable tech. These finalists were selected last autumn and were competing for a $1 million investment.

More than 300 Michigan-based startups applied. Now, just four finalists remained. This interview was one of four right before they took the stage, each pitching with the goal of the Million.

This year’s finalists included:

Max Albert, CEO of Adrenaline Interactive, Ann Arbor

Parker Boundy, co-founder and CEO of General Orbit, Ann Arbor

Josef Hjelmaker, founder and CEO of Electric Outdoors, Detroit

Lindsay Joseph, co-founder and CEO of BedConnect, Ann Arbor

What can happen in seven minutes?

On Tuesday, April 7, four Michigan startups stepped on stage in Lansing and pitched for a $1 million investment.

Hosted by the MSU Research Foundation, PitchMI is one of the nation’s largest founder-focused startup competitions, with more than 400 attendees.

Michigan Startup wins $1 Million Investment at Second Statewide PitchMI Competition

Adrenaline Interactive of Ann Arbor, a startup specializing in dynamic in-game advertising, was named the winner of the 2026 competition, which saw 375 applicants from around the state.

LANSING, Mich. – April 7th, Governor Gretchen Whitmer joined the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) and the Michigan State University (MSU) Research Foundation to announce Adrenaline Interactive as the grand prize winner of the 2026 PitchMI Championship. Following a high-stakes “Shark Tank” style competition at Grewal Hall in Lansing, the company was awarded a $1 million investment, bringing its total PitchMI winnings to $1.375 million.

“Winning feels surreal. To be honest, I still don’t really believe that I won, because the other companies were just so phenomenal,” said CEO and founder of Adrenaline Interactive, Max Albert. “There were four great companies up there, and I feel so lucky to share the stage with all of them. In terms of the future, this check is so meaningful to help us bring back advertising dollars to the state of Michigan.”

PitchMI (pronounced “Pitch-Me”) is one of the nation’s largest founder-focused startup competitions, designed to identify and invest in Michigan’s most promising startups. The PitchMI Championship served as the culmination of a statewide search for Michigan’s most innovative startups, highlighting the state’s commitment to fostering a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem and supporting founders who want to make a career or business in Michigan.

“Michigan is a place where big ideas come to life, and today’s PitchMI Championship is yet another example of how Michigan is creating the jobs of the future,” said Governor Gretchen Whitmer. “Congratulations to Adrenaline Interactive and all of the competing companies. By investing in our homegrown entrepreneurs, we are creating high-tech jobs and ensuring Michigan remains the best place in the world to innovate, grow a business, and dream big.”

The road to the championship began in the fall of 2025 with four regional pitch events across the state, which saw 375 applications from founders in more than 100 Michigan communities. These regional competitions focused on key growth sectors:

• Healthcare & Life Sciences (Grand Rapids): Won by BedConnect, an online system streamlining hospital discharge processes.
• Cleantech & Outdoor Innovation (Traverse City): Won by Electric Outdoors, Inc., creators of a portable off-grid power and water canopy system.
• Mobility, Defense & Advanced Manufacturing (Detroit): Won by General Orbit, developers of simplified satellite navigation hardware and software.
• AI & Software (Ann Arbor): Won by Adrenaline Interactive.

“Adrenaline Interactive, and all the PitchMI finalists, represent the kind of companies Michigan wants to elevate and celebrate more: ambitious, high-growth, and built by founders with the talent and drive to scale,” said Ben Marchionna, Chief Innovation Ecosystem Officer at the MEDC. “PitchMI gives these entrepreneurs a stage that matches the quality of what they’re building. Companies like these are how Michigan attracts and retains exceptional people, creates high-wage jobs, and builds a durable, innovation-driven economy.”

Michigan’s entrepreneurial landscape continues to thrive with the addition of critical tools, including a $60 million investment in early-stage startups through the Michigan Innovation Fund, an R&D tax credit for small businesses, and increased access to resources to close the gap for underrepresented founders. Over the past five years, state investments in entrepreneurship and innovation helped catalyze more than 15,800 jobs and over 1,400 high-tech companies. Additionally, for every $1 the state invested, founders leveraged roughly $85 from other sources, which is an exceptional leverage ratio for public capital.

Organized by the MEDC and the MSU Research Foundation, PitchMI is designed to provide serious capital, rigorous evaluation, and meaningful visibility to Michigan’s most promising startups. More than 75 investors and venture capitalists from around the country were in attendance at the championship.

“Our goal is to create a seamless pathway for founders to move from early traction to global scale without ever having to leave Michigan,” said David Washburn, CEO of the MSU Research Foundation. (see MBN interview with him below) “The level of talent we saw across this year’s PitchMI cohort–from the Top 20 through today’s finalists–was extraordinary. While we’re excited to support Adrenaline Interactive as they reach their next milestone, all four finalists will continue as part of our Michigan Rise investment portfolio, and we look forward to working alongside each of them as they grow and scale here in Michigan.”

Adrenaline Interactive is a startup specializing in dynamic in-game advertising which lets advertisers place in-game ads inside titles such as Fortnite and Roblox. Their platform, Brand Fusion AI, automates in-game product placement to increase engagement and provide measurable ROI for brands.

The Ann Arbor-based company was founded in 2024 by Max Albert and has received past MEDC support through the Michigan Rise Pre-seed Fund and from eLab through MEDC’s SSBCI 2.0 Venture Capital initiative.

“Gen Z plays more video games in their free time than any other leisure activity. More than streaming, more than social media. If you have a Gen Z kid in your life, you already know this is the case. In order to reach the next generation, advertisers need to make gaming core to their marketing strategy,” said Albert.

“Ads in video games today are frustrating to the player: pop up ads and billboard ads that don’t stylistically look like they belong. That’s why more and more brands are turning to product placement, but these are built by hand, every step of the way, from planning to placing to proving… all manual. Manual doesn’t scale. Adrenaline Interactive is aiming to build the first authentic and scalable solution for in-game advertising.”

In total, the 2025-2026 PitchMI competition awarded more than $2.3 million in investment capital with $250,000 for the winner of each regional event, the $1 million grand prize, additional investment totaling $325,000 from Corewell Health Ventures, Assembly Ventures, and eLab Ventures, and an added $400,000 in Google Cloud credits.

PitchMI is set to continue in 2026-2027, beginning with four industry-specific semifinal rounds:

• Sept. 15, 2026: Defense & Aerospace, to be held in Grand Rapids
• Sept. 22, 2026: AI & Software, in Kalamazoo
• Sept. 24, 2026: Advanced Manufacturing, Materials, & Outdoor Innovation, in Marquette
• Oct. 1, 2026: Healthcare & Life Sciences, in Detroit

More information, including how to apply to compete, will be released in the coming weeks.

Learn more about Michigan’s entrepreneurial resources and PitchMI.

About the Michigan State University Research Foundation

The Michigan State University Research Foundation connects researchers and entrepreneurs at MSU and across the state to the resources, relationships and capital they need to drive real-world impact. The Foundation achieves its mission through grant programs that contribute over $15 million annually to the University, entrepreneurial programming and early-stage investments that accelerate technology transfer and startup growth throughout Michigan, and environments where startup businesses and collaborators can thrive. The Foundation’s work is made possible through its stewardship of a flexible and sustainable endowment, nourished by over 50 years of licensing revenues and investment returns. Learn more about the MSU Research Foundation and its impact at msufoundation.org.

About Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC)

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation is the state’s marketing arm and lead advocate for business development, job awareness and community development with the focus on growing Michigan’s economy. For more information on the MEDC and our initiatives, visit www.MichiganBusiness.org. For Pure Michigan® tourism information, your trip begins at www.michigan.org. Join the conversation on: Facebook Instagram LinkedIn, and Twitter.

Hospital beds, powered campsites, satellites, and in-game ads: BedConnect, Electric Outdoors, General Orbit, and Adrenaline Interactive were selected last week as regional winners of the PitchMI startup competition, co-hosted by the Michigan State University (MSU) Research Foundation and Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC). “Michigan’s startup and innovation ecosystem is on fire,” said Alison Todak, vice president of entrepreneurship and innovation at MEDC. “At PitchMI, we heard from some of the state’s boldest and brightest founders, and honestly — I wish we could invest in every single one of them!”

Founders across Michigan competed for a total of $1.7 million in investment through four regional pitch events, building on 2024’s inaugural PitchMI competition in Detroit and Michigan’s growing status as a startup hub. The four winners demonstrate the breadth and depth of the state’s thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem.

BedConnect, which runs an online system that shows hospitals which nursing home beds are open so patients can be discharged more efficiently, won the Grand Rapids competition focused on healthcare and life sciences, held on Sept. 29 at the Grand Rapids Civic Theatre. They took home a $325,000 prize, including a $75,000 investment from Corewell Health Ventures.

“Michigan is where healthcare operators live, where innovation is built to last, and where trust still drives transformation,” said co-founder and CEO Lindsay Joseph. “BedConnect is tackling one of healthcare’s most invisible but costly challenges: the hospital discharge process. We’re replacing outdated workflows with real-time bed availability, smart matching, and better tools for hospitals, post-acute providers, and families. This win is for every hospital case manager, every overwhelmed family, and every post-acute partner who believed a better system was possible. We are here building with you and for you.”

BedConnect, also known as Herawell Technologies Inc., has received past MEDC support as an Ann Arbor SPARK client, a SPARK Entrepreneurial Bootcamp winner, and a Small Business Development Center client, where they were coached on pitching at Accelerate 360, securing investor and angel support, and planning marketing and sales strategies. AIMA, Decimal Code, Elite Care Technologies, and Patensee also competed as finalists.

Electric Outdoors, Inc., a startup that builds a portable canopy system supplying off-grid power, clean water, internet, and EV charging for remote camping sites, won the Traverse City competition focused on cleantech and outdoor innovation, held on Sept. 30 at Timber Ridge. They took home a $250,000 investment.

“We’re beyond thrilled that our software-enabled distributed energy solutions resonated with the judges,” said founder Josef Hjelmaker. “This award means a lot and would not have been possible without the incredible group of people I get to work with every day. We work hard and take nothing for granted, so to keep earning the trust and support from the startup ecosystem in Michigan is a true honor. What makes this even more special is knowing how strong the field of competitors was. It’s so inspiring to be part of such a driven community.”

Electric Outdoors Inc. has received past MEDC support through the Michigan Rise Pre-seed Fund, the Invest UP Michigan Outdoor Innovation Fund, ID Ventures, Ann Arbor SPARK, and the Centrepolis Design For Michigan Manufacturing program. Fab5, JustAir Solutions, Lectric Boil, and Motmot also competed as finalists.

General Orbit, which creates navigation hardware and software that make satellites easier to build and control, won the Detroit competition focused on mobility, defense, and advanced manufacturing, held on Oct. 1 at Ford Field. They took home a $375,000 prize, including $125,000 from Assembly Ventures.

“We design and build next-generation satellite systems that simplify production, reduce integration complexity, and perform reliably in any orbital environment. General Orbit’s systems can cut the total cost of designing and building a satellite by millions of dollars,” said Parker Boundy, co-founder and CEO. “With the investment from PitchMI, we’re able to grow our team and can get our products into space to prove to our customers how well they work.”

General Orbit has received past MEDC support through the ‘Make It in Michigan’ Mobility Prototyping Grant, U of M Innovation Partnership, MTRAC Advance Transportation, T3N mentorship, and as a member of the U of M Foundry. AG3 Labs, CleanBotix, Ketchel Axle Systems, and Livaq also competed as finalists.

Adrenaline Interactive, a startup that lets advertisers place in-game ads inside titles such as Fortnite and Roblox, won the Ann Arbor competition focused on AI and software, held on Oct. 3 at Google Ann Arbor. They took home a $375,000 prize, including $125,000 from eLab Ventures.

“From whiteboard sketches to winning PitchMI, we’ve seen this thing grow from a concept to a company with real traction, real partners, and real momentum.” said chief executive officer Max Albert. “Winning PitchMI is transformational as we can now expand our partnerships team and grow revenue.”

Adrenaline Interactive has received past MEDC support through the Michigan Rise Pre-seed Fund and from eLab through MEDC’s SSBCI 2.0 Venture Capital initiative. Clicki Referrals, Lutely, Maka Media, and Nunchi also competed as finalists.

“PitchMI began just last year as a $100,000 competition,” said Pete Martin, Director of Portfolio Management at the MSU Research Foundation. “This year, it expanded to $2 million and last week alone added more than $700,000 in additional investment and prizes. That growth reflects the desire to make Michigan a highly competitive and startup friendly state to high tech entrepreneurs. There’s real momentum in this state, and PitchMI is helping the rest of the country see it.”

The four winners will advance to the statewide championship in April 2026, going head-to-head at 517 Entrepreneurship & Innovation Week in East Lansing for an additional $1 million investment. The state champion will receive a total $1.25 million investment—among the largest startup competition awards in the nation.

PitchMI goes beyond prize money, giving startups the visibility, connections, and momentum they need to grow and succeed in Michigan. Eleven different Michigan-based venture capitalists and angel groups have already reached out for introductions to the top 20 finalists, with more expected in the coming weeks. The competition drew 375 applications from startups based in 108 Michigan cities, with strong representation across all four regional sectors—healthcare and life sciences, CleanTech and outdoor innovation, mobility and advanced manufacturing, and AI and software. Each winner also received $100,000 in Google Cloud credits.