Scaling Dreams, Building Futures: Michigan Founders Fund & gener8tor Welcomes Fall 2025 Cohort
DETROIT — Five dynamic startups have been selected to join the Fall 2025 Michigan Founders Fund Pre-Accelerator Program powered by gener8tor. This marks the third cohort of the program, which provides early-stage startups with mentorship, resources, and $15,000 cash grants to accelerate growth. The founders represent Michigan-based, underrepresented innovators driving advancements in software, AI, travel tech, sustainable fashion, energy efficiency, and supply chain technology.
The Fall 2025 cohort includes: Phyllip Hall, Founder of AppFactory, Opeyemi (Abraham) Adeyemo, Founder RekognizeAI, Jordan Morgan, Founder of Spin Travel, Stella Safari, Founder of Zapenda, and Shantonio Birch, Founder of ThermoVerse.
“Our Fall 2025 cohort reflects the innovation and determination of Michigan founders who are creating solutions with global potential,” said Rishi Moudgil, Executive Director of Michigan Founders Fund. “These entrepreneurs embody the vision of building a more inclusive and thriving startup ecosystem across the state.”
The MFF Pre-Accelerator is a seven-week program providing founders with mentorship, expert coaching, investor access, and connections to Michigan’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Powered by gener8tor’s gBETA program and tailored for underrepresented founders, the initiative prepares companies for investment readiness and long-term success.
“Michigan’s founders continue to demonstrate world-class innovation, and the demand for this program grows each cycle,” said Nate Domenighini, gBETA Associate VP. “We’re excited to continue to partner with Michigan Founders Fund in offering the tools, funding, and network to help these startups thrive.”
The Fall 2025 program began on September 25th and will culminate in a Founder Showcase on Thursday, November 20, 2025, where participants will present to investors, corporate partners, and community stakeholders.
For more information about the program or to get involved, visit https://michiganfoundersfund.org/pre-accelerator/ or or contact MFFPA Program Manager Brittni Abiolu at brittni@
About Michigan Founders Fund
Michigan Founders Fund is the leading statewide network for high-growth founders and investors. Focused on building a thriving and inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem through a founder-first culture, members represent a wide range of demographics and regions across the state. More than 150 members have collectively raised over $350 million of investment capital through 15 different industry verticals, while also remaining committed to lifting local communities.
As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Michigan Founders Fund is composed of founder and investor members who commit 1% equity or carry to a philanthropic fund supporting Michigan’s social sector through local grantmaking.
About gener8tor
gener8tor is a global venture firm and accelerator network that supports startups, workers, employers, artists and musicians across race, place and gender. gener8tor partners with companies, governments, universities and nonprofits to operate programs and conferences in more than 46 communities across 22 states and three countries. Fast Company named gener8tor one of the Best Workplaces for Innovators in 2021 and 2022. The International Trade Council recognized gener8tor as Global Venture Capital Firm of the Year in 2022.
gener8tor runs gBETA, a non-equity accelerator that facilitates the growth of early-stage companies through a network-driven program. This accelerator supports five startups per cohort and requires no fees for startups and takes no equity. Since launching in 2015, gBETA accelerator alumni have raised $842M+ in capital and created 5,000+ jobs across the U.S. and Canada.
Michigan Founders Fund Pre-Accelerator powered by gener8tor Fall 2025 Cohort
AppFactory enables organizations to modernize outdated, siloed systems without programmers, allowing staff to build custom enterprise apps with embedded AI assistants. Backed by a three-year, $158K contract with the City of Baltimore and an upcoming University of Michigan pilot automating payroll and scheduling for a nursing unit, AppFactory is proving its value in demanding enterprise environments and expanding toward multi-sector pilots in 2026.
Founder & CEO: Phyllip Hall
Based In: Ann Arbor, Michigan
Learn More: https://AppFactory.cc/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phylliphall/
RekognizeAI (a product of SentinelAI) is tackling racial bias in facial recognition technology. Using a proprietary dataset of over 100 million real, diverse images, RekognizeAI has built an algorithm that delivers accurate identification for persons of color and other minority groups. Providing law enforcement, financial institutions, corporations, and government with a more accurate identification solution, RekognizeAI helps prevent wrongful arrests, eliminate expensive lawsuits, security failures, and exclusion from places and services. The company has generated over $100K in licensing revenue from an annual recurring contract with a facial recognition company and is in pilot discussions with the Detroit Police Department.
Founder & CEO: Opeyemi (Abraham) Adeyemo
Based In: Detroit, Michigan
Learn More: https://www.rekognize.ai/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/opeyemi-adeyemo-a41823208/
Spin Travel is an AI-powered business travel management platform that lives directly in your inbox, reducing time spent on travel tasks by up to 90% by completing tasks like searching, booking, and expense management where you already work. Growing teams use Spin’s lightweight system through SMS, Email, or Slack to save time, collaborate on business-critical travel, and unify travel expense data. Backed by a seasoned team including a former TripAdvisor CTO, the company has 3 active pilots with 40 users and $60K in travel spend (producing $5K in subscriptions and commissions), a $300K pipeline across 14 prospective clients, and has engaged with enterprise teams at Salesforce, ServiceNow, Rivian, and more.
Founder & CEO: Jordan Morgan
Based In: Ann Arbor, Michigan
Learn More: https://www.spin.travel/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordanielmorgan/
Zapenda is solving the challenge faced by the African diaspora in accessing authentic, well-fitting African clothing by building a digital platform that connects customers to skilled African tailors for custom, made-to-order garments. Since launching in 2020, the company has generated over $300K in revenue with 70% margins, built a loyal customer base, secured B2B clients, and been featured at Michigan Fashion Week. With its upcoming platform launch, Zapenda is poised to scale both its direct-to-consumer and wholesale offerings while creating dignified work for hundreds of artisans in Africa.
Founder & CEO: Stella Safari
Co-Founder & Creative Director: Dextina Booker
Based In: Detroit, Michigan
Learn More: https://zapendashop.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stellasafari/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dextina/
ThermoVerse is tackling the high cost and inefficiency of building energy use with its patented Smart Insulation Material System (SIMs) — smart ceiling tiles that reduce heating and cooling loads by up to 20%. Unlike costly, bulky retrofits or passive insulation, ThermoVerse offers a minimally invasive, hardware-enabled SaaS solution that integrates with HVAC and building management systems. The company has secured a U.S. patent (with international filings), generated early revenue through a paid pilot with the Urban Tech Xchange Collaborative, and is preparing a New York field trial, positioning itself as a scalable grid-tied solution in a market with over 21 billion square feet of retrofit potential.
Founder & CEO: Shantonio Birch
Based In: Detroit, Michigan
Learn More: https://www.thermoverse.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shantonio/
