Common Vector Robotics Wins $425,000 at Grand Rapids PitchMI Semifinal

LANSING, Mich. (Sept. 15, 2026) — Common Vector Robotics (CVR), a Detroit-based robotics manufacturer, took home $425,000 after winning the Defense & Aerospace semifinal of the PitchMI Startup Competition at the Grand Rapids Civic Theatre.

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 Grand Rapids, 20Fathoms, a Traverse City startup incubator and entrepreneurship hub, added another $50,000 to CVR’s award, bringing the company’s total winnings to $425,000.

“It’s incredible to build in Michigan and to be with all my other fellow founders building in the same space,” said Arnold Kadiu, CEO and co-founder of Common Vector Robotics. “I really wasn’t expecting the check. This is going to be huge for our business to grow and get it to that next stage.”

Building rugged robotics in Michigan
CVR builds rugged ground robots for critical operations on and off the battlefield. The company develops key components including battery packs, battery management systems, motor controllers, ECUs, and suspension systems in-house.

Its two signature products include:

• Ghostrunner: A high-speed, off-road robotic platform built for rugged field operations: distributed sensing, mobility, communications support, and field logistics. Engineered around the CVR vertically integrated hardware stack, Ghostrunner is built to operate where infrastructure cannot.
• GL-1: A 400 kg autonomous base built to carry your payload – robotic arm, sensor mast, or rack – into the field. It navigates by Visual SLAM, is supervised from a single command center, and a modular power payload up to 27 kWh runs the equipment it carries.

Arnold Kadiu, CEO and co-founder of Common Vector Robotics, accepts a $425,000 award after winning the PitchMI Defense & Aerospace Semifinal in Grand Rapids. Danny Ellis, founder and former CEO of SkySpecs and one of the competition judges, presents the check.

“Being in the PitchMI space is really exciting, just the energy of all these startups pitching,” Kadiu said. “I hope for a lot more competitions like this, to allow a lot more companies to grow and succeed.”

The Grand Rapids event was the first of four PitchMI industry semifinals happening across Michigan. Each semifinal winner advances to the statewide PitchMI Championship in spring 2027 for a chance at an additional $1 million.

Learn more about PitchMI and RSVP for the upcoming semifinal events at msufoundation.org/pitchmi.

• AI & Software: Kalamazoo on Sept. 22.
• Advanced Manufacturing, Materials, & Outdoors: Marquette on Sept. 24.
• Healthcare & Life Sciences: Detroit on Oct. 1.