MSU Research Foundation Podcast

PitchMI Finalist Spotlight: Electric Outdoors

MSU Research Foundation Season 2 Episode 7

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0:00 | 30:08

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In this episode, guest host Pete Martin talks with Josef Hjelmaker, Founder and CEO of Electric Outdoors and a PitchMI Championship finalist, about building sustainable, off-grid infrastructure that unlocks new possibilities for landowners and communities.

Josef shares how Electric Outdoors developed the EO Canopy—a self-sustaining, solar-powered platform that enables energy independence, EV charging, and resilient microgrid capabilities without traditional infrastructure. He reflects on his path from global leadership roles in automotive, appliance, and RV manufacturing to launching a Michigan-based startup, the early support from the MSU Research Foundation and Michigan Rise, and the realities of scaling a hard-tech company. As a PitchMI finalist, Josef also discusses preparation for the $1 million Championship and offers advice for founders building in Michigan.

Host: Pete Martin
Guests: Josef Hjelmaker, Founder and CEO, Electric Outdoors
Producers: Jenna McNamara and Doug Snitgen
Music: "Devil on Your Shoulder" by Will Harrison, licensed via Epidemic Sound

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Introduction and Guest Overview

Pete Martin

Welcome to the MSU Research Foundation podcast. I warned you earlier that we were going to have a guest host. Well, he's here. His name is Pete Martin, he's the Director of Portfolio Management at the MSU Research Foundation and he is the lead on our PitchMI competition. Over the next four episodes Pete is going to interview our four finalists. Today, Pete is going to talk to Electric Outdoors, which is led by Josef Hjelmaker. I hope you enjoy the episode.

Pete Martin

Hey, welcome to the MSU Research Foundation podcast. My name is Pete Martin. I'm the director of portfolio management here, and I am joined today by Josef Yelnacher, the founder of Electric Outdoors. Josef, how are you doing?

Josef Hjelmaker

Hey Pete, good to see you, man. It's uh it's great as always. How are you?

Pete Martin

It is uh it's a lovely day here in East Lansing. We're having uh having a great day up here. We finally uh was able to drive up here without um being really fearful on the roads. So so feeling feeling good that we're kind of past the the scariest part of winter.

Josef Hjelmaker

The big snowstorm, sorry.

Pete Martin

The big snowstorms, yeah. All right. For for people that are listening that might not be familiar with you and and what you do, uh why don't you tell us a little bit about Electric Outdoors and and what you guys are doing?

Unlocking Revenue for Landowners

Josef Hjelmaker

Yeah, no, absolutely. And for those of you who don't know me, uh I'm Josef Hjelmaker. You hear an accent, that's Swedish, but uh I've been in Michigan or in US since uh about 2015. Had the privilege of moving here with my family. And in 2022, uh, beginning of 2023, I started Electric Outdoors, uh, being on a mission and a purpose, if you will, to help people go more sustainably to the outdoors. And we're doing that, Pete, by um uh really solving a huge infrastructure challenge. Uh, we want to help landowners unlock more of their lands, and we want to help them do that in a sustainable way, in a smart and speedy way with no lengthy permitting. And we want to help do that with a low capital injection, so no big dollar, millions of dollars infrastructure development. Um, and we're solving that with our EO canopy. This beautiful piece of product that is fully self-sustained, harvest energy. We have an amazing solar roof that captures energy. The solar roof is following the sun as the sun is moving across the sky, and by doing that, we can harvest 20-25% more than a standard south-facing fixed PV installation. Store all that energy, of course, in energy storage systems, batteries. We have a lot of it, 154 kilowatt hours. That's like six to eight American households daily consumption. So we have a lot of energy. And when you have all that energy, you can apply that for many different use cases. So we charge vehicles, uh, even electric vehicles. We have a level two chargers, um, charger on our platform. We have 30 amp, we have 50 amp. And on top of that, right, still leveraging all the energy we have, we can actually generate water out of air and incinerate waste. So our platform, fully self-sustained, have all the life essentials, electricity, energy, water and waste, and we welcome people to come to the outdoors, enjoying their adventures or whatever it is that they want to do in the outdoors.

Pete Martin

So if I'm if I'm a landowner, let's say I've got you know 20 acres somewhere in Michigan, uh, and I want to try and generate some revenue with that uh with that land, I can have an EO canopy on my property uh and essentially treat it somewhat similar to an Airbnb. Is that right? People can come and stay in inside the EO canopy.

Josef Hjelmaker

You're absolutely right. I mean, the EO canopy is um basically it's a resilience, you know, it's a product that helps with energy resilience and energy independence and at the same time generates revenue. You can stay in it. Our digital platform is helping our customers to, you know, find the customers out there who want to come and stay at their facility in our canopy. So you can book our canopies, you can buy other experiences if you want to have some things in your fridge, or if you want to have some bikes, or if you want to just have some more you know amazing experiences while you're at that property in our canopy. So we're helping our landowners bring them on, and this, you know, the customers of the canopy, they they book it on a day, you know, on a nightly basis. Uh, we're helping our you know customers to achieve that as as well.

Pete Martin

Love it. Yeah, so it's it's an Airbnb type experience for folks that are interested in being much more uh connected with nature, like you were saying earlier.

Josef Hjelmaker

Yeah, no, absolutely. And that's one of the verticals that we are supporting, you know, being in the outdoor, outdoor recreation is part of the DNA of our team. Many of us were in the RV space before we started Electric Outdoors. So we keep wanting our passion to life through what we're doing, you know, um day-to-day in our work. Uh but EO Electric Outdoors is actually so much more than that. We can capture on that core technology and also serve other verticals like the boating, marine space, uh, public safety, and disaster relief. You know, we can apply our technologies in many different verticals and use cases, but outdoor recreation is our passion for now. It's what they call our beachhead in the startup world. That's where our focus is, and that's you know, that's what we want to try to unleash here.

Pete Martin

You you mentioned that you and the team were in this space uh or in similar spaces before you got started with Electric Outdoors. What were you doing before?

Josef Hjelmaker

Well, I have uh some 25 years of uh big corporate America uh in my in my experience. I started in the automotive industry, uh, worked for Delphi Electronics and Safety, what's now Active, and absolutely loved that altogether. Uh, learned so much. I was asked to come join Whirlpool Corporation, and that's what took me and my family from Europe, uh specifically Munich in Germany, to southwest Michigan. And I had some amazing years working with a team there, specifically in the cooking category. Uh, and then I was asked to come join Thor Industries, and Thor Industries is the world's largest RV manufacturer. I joined when the pandemic started to break, which was another interesting factor. Everyone, or let's say many, wanted the RV, wanted an RV product to be feels, you know, to feel safe, uh, to feel in control of their own destiny. Uh, all of those things, all of those values that sort of, you know, the pandemic forced us to amplify one way or another. Uh, so we were faced with the challenge of an increased demand, and at the same time, being in the C-suite as their chief innovation officer, I was tackling new technology, new business models, the next generation of consumers, just had an amazing time. And and yes, uh part of my team are from the days at Thor, um, and some are from the Whirlpool days, and others are from the automotive days. I mean, I'm just blessed to be surrounded by a group of people that um I've been, you know, uh have had have had the opportunity to work with in many many different situations and surroundings.

Origin Story and Early Support

Pete Martin

I love it. And so so you make the move to Michigan uh with Whirlpool, with Thor, uh, and then somehow you you come across the idea of hey, we should be creating uh you take this transition from like, hey, we're at Thor, we're doing RVs, we need to create electric outdoor canopies to unlock uh value on land. How like were you was there a moment in time where you were like, aha, we need to do this? Like what was it?

Josef Hjelmaker

Yeah, no, I mean, as we were developing, we're trying to figure out what the next generation of RVing looks like, right? Anything from product to how you build it to who is using it, and under what business model. We created a lot of data in the team at Thor, and we saw an opportunity to go beyond the core product, the RV itself, and start thinking about you know, um 30,000-foot sort of um all-inclusive experience. And we realized um, as we were doing that, there are great examples out there of you know other industries that were facing a transition, and you know, we were we were uh looking into that, and we realized that for the RV industry to go to the next level, a supporting system is required, a system-level approach, sort of to the product was required. And the industry was not ready for that, but I was, and some of my team members. So we decided someone needs to solve this challenge. It's a real challenge, it's a challenge that has some legs in terms of you know who wants it, who needs it, and is there economics behind it? Uh, and can we actually build it? Uh, so I decided to do that. I started Electric Outdoors, uh, got some amazing support from the state of Michigan through um the Office of Future Mobility and Electrification and a grant that they gave us. Uh, that gave me even more confidence in all right, let's go build a prototype, really demonstrating that we can capture this promise and solve this, uh, solve for this problem in a meaningful way. Uh, we did, and from there on it was just off to the races.

Pete Martin

Yeah, so that's that's a good point. This is not an idea. This is a thing that you have already built. You are you're actively doing deployments, right? Aren't you? You're in Colorado right now.

Josef Hjelmaker

I'm in Colorado right now doing business development. We will be deploying units here soon. Uh we were down in Georgia a couple of weeks ago. Uh yes, we were absolutely in what they call the scale-up phase or a commercialization phase. Uh, we have been through, like I mentioned, you know, through the help of Michigan, we got through some prototyping that helped us really cement how to build this and how to solve for it. And then we went through a uh what we call a piloting phase where we, together with some of the early stage investors, uh including Michigan Rise (a venture investment subsidiary of the MSU Research Foundation), got help also capital um uh from you know, from a capital point of point of view to um go into the next phase, which was building more product, doing you know years of data collection and and refinement of the product. And then we were fortunate to um to get production contract um in 2025. Um so we had to go into the next phase, which means you know, set up your plant, set up your processes, uh, operations, make sure you have the tools and the people that can really build units at scale. And now we're deploying, so very fortunate, very excited about that.

Pete Martin

You've been uh throughout building here, and I know we were we were relatively early backers to to what you're doing at Electric Outdoors, and I'm proud of that. I think the team here is really proud of that, and proud of you and what you guys have been building. Uh, but you've also been surrounded by a bunch of other founders uh throughout this process. What is that what has that experience been like building in Michigan?

Building in Michigan

Josef Hjelmaker

Yeah, no, it's been great. I mean, um, for me, I have a lot of experience. Obviously, coming in, you know, having having been in 25 years in corporate America and learned a ton. And I thank my experience for being brave enough to do what I'm doing today. I I am amazed with younger founders who do not have that experience, uh, you know, who dare to go in and take these huge leaps of faith as they're doing what they're doing. Um so grateful for that. But the other piece is exactly what you're saying, Pete. The ecosystem, um, the founders surrounding you, the accelerator programs, the incubators, everything from Centropolis Accelerator to plug and play to New Lab to not to forget anyone out there, obviously, but no, we've been surrounded by people who want to bring um uh the founders and the startups forward and having those people surrounding you, and especially the founders who are facing many of the same challenges you are facing, anything from talent to financial crises to whatever it might be, right? Having those people around you and being able to share um challenges, but also how to get out of those challenges, because ultimately that's what you need to do. That's your job. You will be hit in the face with many, many things, and some will bruise, some will bruise hard. Um, but you gotta find a way to move forward. That's that's the only way.

Pete Martin

I will I will double down. If if you're a founder and you're listening to this podcast, uh 100% you will be hit in the face with many things that you do not know are coming. Uh it pays so much to surround yourself with a community of other founders that can just be there uh as shoulders to cry on, but also as people that can help you see around the corner just a little bit. If they can help you just a little bit, you can avoid making one mistake, and that one mistake can, you know, avoiding that mistake can take you really far. Hey, before we get too far away from it, you mentioned you're in you're in Colorado now, you were deploying in you said Georgia. What about Michigan? Have you been, yeah, I know you're in lots of conversations in Michigan. Have you made any deployments here? Uh, or is there an opportunity for someone that's listening to be to be that first location?

Josef Hjelmaker

Well, we have pilot units in Michigan, uh, you know, so we have been deploying in Michigan, Michigan. We have not deployed any commercial units yet. So, yes, if you're out there, there's still definitely a chance to be the first. Although you need to be very, very, very fast. Uh, because it wouldn't surprise me if we, you know, uh publicly can announce our our partners here in a very, very, very near future. We are so having some amazing support from everything from cities and counties in the upper peninsula to all the way down to the southeast corner of Detroit and some of the counties in there. So there will be units in Michigan soon, but we're always open for phone calls or conversations around deploying more.

Pete Martin

The time is now. If you want an EO canopy on your property, contact Josef and Electric Outdoors today. Hey, um, and that just one more point on that. That's someone that could buy one, they could buy a hundred if they wanted to. You've got options for that too.

Josef Hjelmaker

Yeah, in in the phase that we're in right now, uh, we've been fortunate to land contracts with state or federal entities or developers of state or federal entities. That means that we're developing uh and launching in clusters. So it's four or six or eight or ten or whatever that number is, right? But it's not the one-offs right now. Um that helps us from a company point of view to have a more you know close proximity to the products that we're deploying. Uh, not that they're not perfect, but sometimes they do live, you know, do need some love tender and care, uh, for sure. Um, but yes, as we are growing and expanding in different parts of the nation around the US here, we will also start serve you know the onesies, twosies out there uh 100%.

Pete Martin

So let's look a few a few years ahead in the future. Uh Electric Outdoors is wildly successful. You're deployed all over the place. What is what impact does that have on the world, do you think? Like what's the what's the end game here?

Josef Hjelmaker

I mean, the end game is um that's a great question, and we've always tried to stay true to the core mission, which is sustainability uh and energy independence and resilience. We know there are so many things that can be achieved, and they can be achieved, you know, in many different ways. If we can be a small factor, you know, helping people grow more independent, stay more resilient to challenges by having energy assets, energy, energy resources close to them, that's a huge help. Um what I and what I mean with that is one canopy or ten canopies connected together in a microgrid uh is there for you in the case the overall grid goes down. That can help individuals, that can help communities. Um, that's part of the you know the applications that we're building all together. So just being on that back-end support side of having our resources available for the community is something that I find very noble. That we're doing it in a renewable and sustainable way as well is dear to my heart. Uh, I want to make sure that our kids, you know, and their kids and all of that can have you know fun. And your kids, I mean, all of all of our kids can have fun and enjoy the nature that we're having out there. And uh it's important for me. I know sometimes that's not you know the right economical or whatever thing to say, but it is important for Electric Outdoors, and we will we will stay, you know, stick true to that message, if you will. Um, but in all sense, what we're trying to do is to bring economic growth, economic resilience and freedom to people. And we're proud about how we're doing it and gonna continue to try to do it smarter and smarter, uh, in different verticals, in different levels, everything from physical products to data layers where we're unleashing a lot of value. I mean, our canopies are always connected, they are merging satellite and 5G, so we're just collecting a ton of data. Uh, we're using that data, of course, for use cases and features uh and energy management in the canopy. But just imagine what you can do with this data if you're an energy company or projecting a hurricane coming through the region or from an insurance point of view. There's a lot of value we can unleash with that data as well.

MSU Research Foundation Support

Pete Martin

Yeah, it's so fun and if not funny, it's great to think about the long-term impact of this company, is so much more than, hey, here's some extra revenue if you have more property. It's like I get the beachhead market is awesome, right? But the long-term benefit of Electric Outdoors is environmental independent energy independence, environmental sustainability, uh, grid resiliency, right? There's so many great things at play here. Uh, really love what you guys are doing. Um, okay, so uh let's talk about the uh MSU Research Foundation, if we can be uh uh I'll ask you what I will think might sound like a self-serving question, because it is. Uh how has the MSU Research Foundation been involved uh in your overall journey with Electric Outdoors? What where where'd we get where'd we jump in?

Josef Hjelmaker

From day two, uh literally. Uh I mean we you guys were uh MSU Research Foundation, one of the first entities, you know, uh capital investing entities in the state of Michigan that loved what we were doing. Um, started helping us out from when I barely could talk about what we're doing and how we're doing it and how to put that into you know a pitch or in the right documentation, you were there from the very beginning guiding us. Took some time for you know for your your Foundation to invest in Electric Outdoors, but hey, you know, once you did, and you did very early on, uh that was amazing as well. But yeah, no, really honestly, uh, one of the first um entities that helped us fine-tune how we talk about Electric Outdoors and how to make that an eligible, because in the end, you need to be a financial, you know, play as well, right? It needs to make financial sense for investors and people surrounding you to be part of this. Uh, we can do it for many purposes, but the economics is always going to be in there. So you've been there from day two, and then since then, I mean, we're approaching three years now. Uh, since then, there's always been the support of the team, uh, opening up doors. I mean, you personally, Pete, joining in and continue to support us and opening doors and introducing us to players you think could be valuable for us. I mean, it is really you can't put a you know a value on what you guys have been doing for us. So really appreciative for uh for your support.

Pete Martin

Well, I I will say it's um the team has mentioned uh you specifically as like one of the nicest founders in our entire portfolio. Like I'll go on record and say that. It's true. Everybody loves talking to you because you're very you're a very nice person. It's very easy to have a conversation with you. It's also it's um it's it's much easier to make connections for folks that you have a good relationship with. So I think that I actually think that that works out really well for you. So keep keep doing what you're doing.

Josef Hjelmaker

That that's okay. I think it's the accent.

Pete Martin

Yeah, maybe. Uh okay. You are one of the four finalists for the Pitch MI championship on April 7th, where you will be pitching for a $1 million prize. Um, let's go back to last summer, must have been August uh uh of last year, when you heard about the Pitch MI competition. Uh, do you recall where you were or your thoughts when when that came out?

Josef Hjelmaker

I think I was at New Lab actually. Nice. Uh and I saw it being announced, and I quickly bounced it back and forth with my team and said, I'm not sure if we're there, but let's dive into this. You know, let's look into this because this is too good of an opportunity not to, you know, uh dive into for sure. So yeah, I was at New Lab and I immediately started sending out some emails to to my team members about it.

Pete Martin

That's so good. Okay. Uh so you apply, you ended up obviously getting selected, you pitched and you won in Traverse City $250,000 prize. Uh, can you can you describe that moment for the folks that are listening?

Josef Hjelmaker

Uh it's difficult to describe. Uh and I've tried to explain this to people, but uh it can it it was really uh an amazing turning point for Electric Outdoors as well, because we were in the midst of getting units out there and forming the team and And you know, I I was like, no, no chance. I mean, all these other founders around me, wonderful people with such a great story. Uh, I'm just blessed to be, you know, part of part of this group here. And then I think maybe even you called my name. I can't even remember now because I was like in almost in shock. Almost in shock. And I think you can see on pictures that, like, really, did they did they say my name? Or did they say Electric Outdoors? Um, so yeah, it it took some time for it to land. I was not ready for it, but obviously, I mean, um, it it was a blessing altogether. Uh, and again, anyone could have won it, truly, honestly. Um, I guess we were just fortunate to have um have the right mood and the right uh spirit of the day to to be there.

Pete Martin

I I think you're right that the quality of the companies that pitched at each of these cities in the fall was really incredible. And so, shout out because I remember them off the top of my head, uh, shout out to Electric Boyle, Just Air, Fab Five, and Motmot, four amazing companies that are being built here in Michigan, like really, really great companies. And you're right, anybody could have won that day. They're all building really great companies. Um, but you ultimately were selected as as the first place uh recipient in in Traverse City, got that $250,000 investment, plus $100,000 in Google Cloud credits, plus lots of connections while you were there. Uh, and now we are we're gearing up for this championship in April. Uh, and I know that we've been putting you through just a ton of stuff. Uh, and without giving away maybe too many spoilers, do you want to talk about some of the things that we've been doing together?

Josef Hjelmaker

Yeah, I mean, it's been uh it's been a lot, as you're saying, Pete. And and again, you know, going from I think we pitched in September in Traverse City, beautiful day. I was part of getting the, you know, getting into the zone, if you will. You could be outside and just enjoy the nature up there. But uh, yeah, since then, I mean, there's been podcasts, there's been interviews, there's been a lot of exciting, again, I don't know exactly what I can say here, not to reveal too much, but we've been working together, you know, uh the Research Foundation and the founders uh coming together, gone through some very interesting exercises and training opportunities and fun things to help, you know, build us in terms of how we are portraying and talking about uh our business, but also really be there as Michigan uh to try to push founders and startups um to the best possible, you know, place they can be in to be successful. Um you know, I always try to wake up every day and say, all right, what am I gonna learn today? And because I think that's part of the startup journey as well. Nothing is really perfect, it's a lot of learning. Uh and you know, uh this these last weeks and months with with you guys have been a lot of you know learnings as well, and and trying just to figure out new ways to you know move you forward on your on your personal but also business journey.

Advice for Founders

Pete Martin

Yeah, it's um for for the folks listening, there will be great content that comes out between now and April that you should all be keeping your eyes out for and watch it as soon as it comes out. It's gonna be awesome. And also join us on April 7th, the Pitch MI Championship. You can see Josef and these three other amazing founders pitch for a million-dollar prize uh on April 7th. Go to PitchMI, that's pitchmi.org, and you can register to to attend that event. And we want to see lots of people there. Uh okay, so a couple more questions for you, and then we'll uh before we wrap up here. Uh so what advice, you know, for someone that's looking to build a startup, if they're here in Michigan, right? What what might you say to them if they're thinking about starting a business here?

Josef Hjelmaker

I I think I'm gonna come back to the community and some of the things we talked about earlier, right? Just know that you're not alone. Uh, yes, you know, you can be a solo pr, you know, solopreneur or whatever you say, um, solo entrepreneur. I guess here's where my my my non non-native American is is shining through. But no, joke joke joke aside, um lean on people, you know, try to find the right you know um uh community for you. If that's an accelerator, if that's a work, you know, uh co-working space environment, uh know that there are people in Michigan who want the best for you. Obviously, you need to have something that makes sense, you know. We're not gonna back anything and everything. But if you truly have a challenge that is, you know, a need and not a nice to have, and it makes sense in how you're approaching it and how you're talking about it, there's plenty of support. And I can, you know, there's capital in Michigan, there's the support in Michigan, there's the ability to build things if you're building things, you know, like we are a software platform, but we do have hard tech, you know, physical things surrounding it. You have all these different opportunities in Michigan. So yeah, that's definitely worth a look.

Pete Martin

Love it. Okay. And any advice for someone because we're gonna do Pitch MI again. Uh spoiler alert, everybody, we're gonna do we're gonna do Pitch MI again. Uh so as we gear up for this next round of Pitch MI, uh, what might you say to someone that's thinking of applying for for uh to to pitch and Pitch MI?

Josef Hjelmaker

I mean, I I think it's all about um readiness and preparation. Uh, you know, so do your outermost as you're you know engaging in these applications because you know you need to be able to portray your mission, your purpose, your company uh in the forms, but then also if you're if you're fortunate enough to be selective, it's all about practice as well, right? I mean, uh don't go there the night before and think you're gonna do awesome. Uh just stay connected to what you're doing and and and practice and earn earn that stage, if you will.

Pete Martin

One uh one question. Sorry, I'm gonna do one more question because it's fun. Yeah, uh what one company in Michigan would you really love to be working with that you're not working with right now? Oh gosh.

Josef Hjelmaker

One company that I would love to be working with that I'm not working with right now.

Pete Martin

Yeah, because we're gonna we're gonna manifest that through this podcast.

Josef Hjelmaker

That is such a good question. I mean, it's there's many, many, many, but okay, let's pick one. Uh, and I'm gonna pick one of the automotive brands actually. Um, because we and not to spoil too much, but being true to your brand and your brand identity, we want to be explorers, we want to be out there, and I think there's you know, Jeep is definitely one of those brands that I think belong at our platform and I think belong in a relationship um with uh with Electric Outdoors. So I'm gonna say that. Let's just throw it out there. Okay. Uh that doesn't mean I don't want to work with anyone else.

Closing Remarks

Pete Martin

No, no, but we should but it's gonna happen now because of because of this podcast. It's gonna happen. I love it. All right. Okay, good. Okay, now for real. Last question: where can people go to find out more about you and Electric Outdoors?

Josef Hjelmaker

Yeah, I mean, I think first and foremost our website, uh www.electricoutdoors.com. Uh that's the source for everything and anything. Sign up for our newsletters and and all of the things that we're having up there, and and you get regular feedback from what we're doing. Uh, follow us on the social media channels. Uh, LinkedIn is where we most um spend most of our time, but we are active on Instagram and Facebook uh and all of all of the different platforms out there. So yeah. Um, and through there you can find emails if you want to you know really get in contact with with us all together.

Pete Martin

Okay, I love it. Josef, thank you so much. Really appreciate the time today, man.

Josef Hjelmaker

Thank you. Appreciate you.