MFF x SXSW 2026 Recap: Michigan Founders in Austin!

Every year, the technology and innovation world descends on Austin for South by Southwest (SXSW). Once again this year, Michigan Founders Fund sponsored a cohort of founders to represent Michigan. Ten founders received full passes, flights, and stays at the MFF x SXSW House, while many others received badges or housing stipends, but all made moves and showed up strong. 

These founders won competitions, secured pilots, got into exclusive spaces, and brought home to Michigan relationships that didn’t exist two weeks ago.

Here are a few founders’ highlights: 

What founders will remember

Vanessa Lane, founder of BetterPlay Studios, drove from Austin to Houston mid-conference to meet with Texas Children’s Hospital. She came home with a pilot. BetterPlay, which builds video game and play-based technology, is now working with one of the most respected pediatric health systems in the country. 

“This pilot was far and away the best thing that came from this,” Vanessa said, “As well as getting connected with the investor industry nationwide.”

Madala Mathurin, founder of Ciyfr, won the 5×5 Night at Midwest House. This was Grand Rapids-based Start Garden’s Austin-based pitch competition where five founders pitched for five minutes each for a shot at $5,000. Madala brought home this non-dilutive check to keep building. 

“This funding helps us take a critical step toward our pilot with Henry Ford Health,” said Madala. “Turning our models into something hospitals can actually use to predict nurse fatigue and help reduce turnover in real time.”

Tim Moore, co-founder of Clixie AI, and master on-the-ground networker, was 4 for 5 getting into private events that most people couldn’t get near. He came back with a meeting lined up with a major angel group, a potential major government contract, and new relationships he immediately turned around and shared with the rest of the Michigan cohort. 

Matt Larson, founder and Chief RV Officer of Vanly, built new relationships to help cities welcome RV travelers while supporting local communities. He made contact with the Obama Foundation Center as a potential strategic partner, continued planning for a Kansas City World Cup activation (campout watch parties, food trucks, RV build demos), and connected with the Detroit Tigers. Additionally, Matt met full-time RV owners who grabbed Vanly flyers to get the word out. 

Jeff Dwoskin, co-founder of Stampede Social, spent a lot of time in the SXSW Creator space presentations, establishing a breadth of new contacts to move his company forward. 

“I think one of the greatest values was being in the house with other Michigan founders and getting to know them extremely well,” said Jeff. “[We created] those internal bonds that we can then use with each other as amazing resources…Oh, and I got to go to a movie premier.” 

Troy Morris, co-founder of KMI, Inc. represented Michigan’s space economy on a national stage, connecting with industry leaders around orbital mechanics and KMI’s mission of keeping space clear for all. KMI is making moves from the Great Lakes to space.

“I’m taking away a few inside conversations with key folks with our in-deliberation contracts, as well as met in-person with some of the investment potentials that hit so much harder than online only,” said Troy. “My biggest takeaway beyond the crazy catalysts for capital and customers was the ability and insight we cross-pollinated together. Chatham House or SXSW House; it’s GREAT to get together.”

Shantonio Birch, founder of ThermoVerse, capped a seven-day, four-city road tour at SXSW. His stops included Oak Ridge National Laboratory, data center alley in Richmond, and a TechConnect conference in Raleigh where ThermoVerse was spotlighted as a finalist developing solutions for the nation’s critical infrastructure challenges. Austin was the final leg, with new connections and opportunities to bring home.

Sarah Beatty, founder of Culturewell, arrived at SXSW fresh off a data product launch. Culturewell has the only structured dataset of environmental pathogens in hospitals that leverages anonymized data across U.S. health systems. She used the week to make connections and get the word out among investors, potential partners, and more. 

Meegan Winters, co-founder of AbleVu, said she met more people in five days than all of 2026 combined. From a networking standpoint, “it was off the charts”. More importantly, she said, it wasn’t just about volume, it was about quality. Founders with bold, life changing ideas, investors actively looking for meaningful opportunities, and ecosystem partners who truly understand and want to help.

What we saw: MFF at SXSW 

A few things stood out to us as an organization.

The founders found each other. Tim Moore put it plainly in his recap: “We have all commented how ridiculous it is that we had to all fly to Texas to get to know each other.” That’s a real thing. Some call SXSW “Michigan’s annual offsite,” but that’s because there’s something different about engaging with familiar faces in a new space.  

SXSW created proximity that translated into genuine community. Euchre parties at the MFF x SXSW House, group driverless car trips, catered brunches, unexpected parties. 

Vanessa Lane said having so many founders in one house “was a lot, but in the best way.” 

The relationships built at SXSW are ones that will carry forward into Michigan Tech Week, into investor introductions, into co-founder conversations we don’t even know about yet.

“It didn’t feel transactional or surface level,” said Meegan Winters. “It felt like we found a support system that’s going to last well beyond SXSW.” 

Generosity multiplies opportunity. When founders make connections and then turn around and share these connections with fellow founders, it creates a multiplication effect. That’s the kind of founder behavior that makes a community actually worth being part of. Founders can make moves on their own, but we hosted the MFF x SXSW House to create opportunities for founders to collaborate in real-time. 

Michigan held its own. In rooms full of founders from every major tech hub in the country, our cohort pitched, won, secured pilots, and got offered government contracts. Michigan also had a large presence at the annual Midwest House just east of downtown. The narrative that you have to be on a coast to build something real is getting harder to defend. 

“The energy at SXSW was unmatched,” said Madala Mathurin. “But what stood out most was being able to chat with other healthcare operators, hospital leaders, VCs, and C-suite executives around the same problem. That momentum turned into real conversations with hospital systems in Atlanta, Nashville, and Ohio, which made it clear this is a nationwide need.” 

Keep the Momentum Going: Michigan Tech Week May 19-21

Michigan Tech Week is May 19–21. See for yourself what Michigan founders are building and share your own contacts to help them progress even further. The work that started in Austin continues in Detroit. 

We’re proud of every founder who made the trip. And we’re already thinking about what next year looks like.