KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – A Kalamazoo medical startup is one of 20 Michigan companies competing PitchMI semifinals this fall.
Khaldoon Alaswad‘s TruVue will be competing in the Healthcare and Life Sciences category in Detroit October 1.
The PitchMI competition is a partnership between the Michigan State University Research Foundation and Michigan Economic Development Corporation and is one of the nation’s largest founder-focused startup competitions. The program connects promising Michigan founders with capital, visibility, relationships, and resources that can help them move farther, faster.
Five companies will pitch at each of the four industry-specific semifinals in Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Marquette, and Detroit.
Expanded support has increased the semifinal prize from $250,000 to as much as $375,000 per winner, bringing the total available funding across the four events to up to $1.5 million.
From there, the four semifinal winners will advance to the statewide PitchMI Championship in spring 2027, where another $1 million will be awarded.
Defense & Aerospace: Grand Rapids September 15:
● Controlled Light, Ann Arbor — Bryce Rajabian
● Common Vector Robotics, Detroit — Arnold Kadiu
● Ketchel Axle Systems, Southfield — Bradley Ketchel
● Modal Motors, Farmington Hills — Michael Van Steenburg
● Neumo, Birmingham — Niall Berkery
AI & Software: Kalamazoo September 22:
● Bridgecare Technologies, Lansing — Sunny Nadolsky
● ConStrat AI, Detroit — Justin Turk
● Helios Core AI, Novi — Len Landale
● MimoLabs, Detroit — Michael Moceri
● Motmot, Detroit — Elliot Smith
Advanced Manufacturing, Materials, & Outdoors: Marquette September 24:
● Averra Systems, Canton — Alisyn Malek
● Fen X Custom, Grawn — Mike Lin
● GAIA Predictive, Detroit — Andrew DiMaggio
● Omegacool, Ann Arbor — Joey Mullick
● Post Rock, Pleasant Ridge — Nawar Dimitry
Healthcare & Life Sciences: Detroit October 1.
● Authsnap, Marquette — Gretchen Heinen
● Ollivate, Detroit — April Olson
● PathwaysGI, Ann Arbor — Kevin Wittrup
● Signal Bioscience, Ann Arbor — John Cunningham
● TruVue, Kalamazoo — Khaldoon Alaswad
All 20 semifinalists are also taking part in a two-week intensive development series designed to strengthen both their talent and the companies they are building.
Experts will work with the founders on positioning and branding, hiring, go-to-market strategy, fundraising, financial planning, influencer marketing, and more.
Learn more about the Top 20 companies and RSVP for the PitchMI semifinals at https://msufoundation.org/pitchmi/.
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