Motmot Wins $425,000 at Kalamazoo PitchMI Semifinal

LANSING, Mich. (Sept. 15, 2026) — Motmot, a Detroit-based water-infrastructure robotics company, won $425,000 after taking the top spot at the PitchMI AI & Software Semifinal at the Kalamazoo Civic Theatre on Sept. 22.

Led in partnership by the Michigan State University Research Foundation and Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), PitchMI is one of the nation’s largest founder-focused startup competitions, designed to identify, support, and invest in some of Michigan’s most promising startups.

A $500,000 statewide co-investment from Anchor Up Ventures, Kalamazoo Forward Ventures, JM Longyear and ID Ventures increased each semifinal prize from $250,000 to $375,000. In Kalamazoo, 20Fathoms, a Traverse City startup incubator and entrepreneurship hub, added another $50,000 to Motmot’s award, bringing the company’s total winnings to $425,000.

“This funding is everything for the company,” said Elliot Smith, CEO and co-founder of Motmot. “It gets us from having to service the customer directly to our next scale chapter. And that’s something we’ve been looking forward to for the last two years. It really unlocks a lot for us in that capacity.”

Inspecting pipes beneath our streets
Motmot builds autonomous underwater robots and inspection technology that help utilities better understand the condition of active municipal water mains without costly or disruptive excavation.

Its robotic platform travels directly through active drinking water infrastructure to capture detailed information about pipe conditions, structural risks, and flow. Motmot then turns that inspection data into actionable information utilities and engineers can use to prioritize repairs and make infrastructure investment decisions.

Elliot Smith, CEO and co-founder of Motmot, celebrates his $425,000 PitchMI AI & Software Semifinal win alongside competition judges and Pete Martin, director of portfolio management at the MSU Research Foundation.

“You can’t do it alone,” Smith said. “If you’ve got really good relationships along the way, like the folks at the MSU Research Foundation and MEDC, those are great resources to be leveraging. It’s never been a better time to be in the startup space. The ecosystem is primed and ready for you. The tools are there.”

The Kalamazoo event was the second of four PitchMI industry semifinals happening across Michigan. Each semifinal winner advances to the statewide PitchMI Championship in spring 2027, where another $1 million will be awarded.

Learn more about PitchMI and RSVP for the upcoming semifinal events at msufoundation.org/pitchmi.
● Advanced Manufacturing, Materials, & Outdoors: Marquette on Sept. 24.
● Healthcare & Life Sciences: Detroit on Oct. 1.