Venture 313 is proud to announce their 10 Tech Founders to Watch in 2025, a recognition of Detroit-based entrepreneurs who are shaping the future of technology and innovation. Venture 313 is a Gilbert Family Foundation initiative consisting of TechTown Detroit, ID Ventures and Detroit Development Fund. The coalition works to support and encourage progress in local early-stage tech founders, and has deployed over $4M in direct funding to founders since its inception in 2022. Portfolio companies have gone on to secure upwards of $50M in investment and follow-on funding since then.
This list aims to shines a spotlight on the bold ideas and remarkable leadership being cultivated right here in the Motor City from the collective portfolio of Venture 313. Representative of the energy, creativity and resilience that define Detroit’s culture and entrepreneurial landscape, these founders run companies that not only have the potential to scale, but also to create meaningful impact in our communities. The founders are evidence of what’s possible when talent, technology and opportunity meet.
Founders on the list were chosen because they represent innovation and execution in key sectors for our region. The ventures built by this 2025 Founders to Watch class are already showing the kind of traction, key partnerships, and progress that make them attractive early investment targets for angels and VCs alike and unlock growth opportunities — many have already secured pre-seed and seed funding beyond Venture 313 partner investments as they scale in and beyond Detroit. Their business verticals represent a broad range of industries including clean energy, public health, life sciences, mobility, applied AI, and flexible domestic manufacturing.
Detroit has long been known as a city of builders, and today’s tech founders are carrying that legacy forward. Their work deserves recognition, not only for what they’ve accomplished so far, but for the momentum they are building. By elevating these founders, Venture 313 aims to celebrate their success, inspire others to pursue their own entrepreneurial paths, and highlight Detroit as a thriving hub for innovation and investment.
We are excited to follow their journeys and to continue supporting the growth of Detroit’s tech ecosystem. To learn more about these founders—and to connect with the broader network of innovators making moves in Detroit—visit Venture313.com and join us in celebrating the people who are building the future right here at home.
For more information, email info@venture313.com.
Tech founders
to watch 2025
10
Sponsored by
Crystal Brown, CircNova
Brown is building novel RNA therapeutics using CircNova’s proprietary AI-powered NovaEngine™. The platform unlocks opportunity to treat oncological and neurodegenerative conditions previously considered “undruggable.” Pairing in-silico design with wet-lab validation to grow a portfolio in programmable RNA, they are compressing discovery timelines and de-risking preclinical selection for research and biopharma partners and raised a $4M pre-seed round to scale NovaEngine™.
Darren Riley, JustAir
Riley is working to protect the 20,000 breaths that each human takes daily by using dense networks of affordable sensors to deliver neighborhood-level air quality intelligence and turn invisible pollution into actionable, real-time insights to communities. JustAir has raised over $1.5M and deployed in 11 states, along with earning national recognition, being named one of Fast Company’s 2025 Most Innovative Companies for Social Good.
Karissma Yve, Gildform
Gildform is building an on-demand jewelry manufacturing platform that takes creators from idea to finished product without owning a factory. Yve has collaborated with high-profile partners like Billie Eilish and the film Black Panther, showcasing its ability to deliver at a global level. Built in Detroit, the company helps emerging and established labels alike transform sketches into market-ready pieces, while improving margins and speed to market with modern, automated processes.
Sam Shapiro, Grounded
Grounded is building electric and hybrid vans supporting use cases ranging from mobile medicine and dental, brand and retail, tactical command, outdoor recreation and more. A former SpaceX engineer, Shapiro’s Grounded is reimagining a cleaner future of travel and work with a customizable, tech-enabled, sustainable RV platform. The company has raised $3.5M and achieved over $5M in sales of RVs and light commercial vans.
Justin Kosmides, Bloom
Kosmides is working with some of the fastest growing innovators in hard tech and some of the largest auto companies in the world. Bloom is an intelligent supply chain and operations marketplace platform for hardware companies, connecting them to a vetted network of manufacturers, logistics partners, and service providers. Anchored in Detroit’s manufacturing ecosystem, Bloom is advancing reshoring efforts and enabling more makers to build products closer to the markets they serve.
Irene Liu, Chiyo
Liu is building food-as-medicine programs to support women’s needs from fertility through postpartum. Chiyo’s products are rooted both in East Asian healing traditions and nutritional science, delivering stage-based meal plans and herbal regimens to address common symptoms and conditions during life’s most precious —and sometimes vulnerable — moments. Recent backing from Detroit Venture Partners and Union Heritage supports expansion of access and and clinical collaborations.
David Medina, LIVAQ
Medina is building electric off-road vehicles that provide sustainable high-performance. LIVAQ’s EQUAD platform delivers instant torque and low maintenance for recreation, agriculture and industrial usage. Early customers include several municipalities (from local and international) among others. Medina’s company is backed by investors such as Techstars Detroit, MI Outdoor Innovation Fund, City Side Ventures, along with various non-dilutive sources.
Elliot Smith, Motmot
Smith is empowering municipalities to stretch capital budgets and keep water service reliable for residents and businesses. Motmot’s autonomous underwater robots inspect pressurized water mains from the inside, allowing asset managers to translate sensor data into capital plans and targeted maintenance schedules with earlier detection of problems. The company secured a $1.55M NSF SBIR Fast-Track award to advance its PIPELINE project and scale field deployments.
Morteza Sarp, AmHyTech
Sarp is building next-generation tech to unlock ammonia’s potential both as maritime fuel and a hydrogen carrier – developing safer, lower-cost systems for storage and transport and an innovative electrolysis process that allows ammonia-to-hydrogen conversion without thermal cracking. AmHyTech is scaling its R&D from lab space on Wayne State University’s campus, and their work to unlock the future of energy has been supported by multiple SBIR grants and venture capital support.
Justin Turk, ConStrat AI
Turk is using AI to unify and leverage fragmented data sets prevalent in the construction industry, generating real-time cash-flow visibility. ConStrat AI uses operations data to generate underwriteable insights so builders can access credit faster, reduce paperwork and get projects done faster. Turks’s last venture, Livegistics, a national logistics platform, raised over $9M under his leadership and won the inaugural $1M Black Ambition Grand Prize in 2021.
Crystal Brown, CircNova
Brown is building novel RNA therapeutics using CircNova’s proprietary AI-powered NovaEngineTM. The platform unlocks opportunity to treat oncological and neurodegenerative conditions previously considered “undruggable.” Pairing in-silico design with wet-lab validation to grow a portfolio in programmable RNA, they are compressing discovery timelines and de-risking preclinical selection for research and biopharma partners and raised a $4M pre-seed round to scale NovaEngineTM.