PitchMI Finalist Spotlight: General Orbit

In this episode, guest host Pete Martin talks with Parker Boundy, Co-Founder and CEO of General Orbit and a PitchMI Championship finalist, about advancing navigation and sensing technology for space and Earth-based applications.

Parker shares how General Orbit spun out of University of Michigan research to commercialize a new approach to magnetometers—using software to filter out interference and deliver highly accurate readings without complex hardware. Originally developed for satellites, the technology is now being applied to aviation, autonomous vehicles, and defense systems, with the potential to complement or replace GPS in critical environments. He reflects on the company’s rapid growth since launching in 2024, the role of university tech transfer, and the realities of building a hard-tech startup. As a PitchMI finalist, Parker also discusses preparing for the $1 million Championship and offers advice for founders building in Michigan.

Host: Pete Martin
Guests: Parker Boundy, Co-Founder and CEO, General Orbit
Producers: Jenna McNamara and Doug Snitgen
Music: "Devil on Your Shoulder" by Will Harrison, licensed via Epidemic Sound

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Transcript

Introduction and Guest Overview

Pete Martin 0:32

Welcome back to the MSU Research Foundation podcast. I am Pete Martin, and I'm joined today by Parker Boundy, the CEO and founder of General Orbit. Parker, welcome to the show.

Parker Boundy 0:42

Thanks for having me.

Pete Martin 0:42

Yeah, uh, we're very happy to have you here, man. And this is our last, this is our fourth and final uh PitchMI podcast. I'm really happy to have you on here, man.

Parker Boundy 0:51

This is awesome. I'm excited to uh share a story a little bit.

What Is General Orbit?

Pete Martin 0:55

For um for the folks that are listening that don't know you uh yet, can you tell just a little bit about you know who you are and and the company and what you guys are doing?

Parker Boundy 1:04

Yeah, so General Orbit is a spin-out from my co-founder's research lab at the University of Michigan. So I got connected through my two co-founders through a program through um Michigan's Innovation Partnership Group, the Tech Transfer Office, um, trying to help spur more startups and commercialize more cutting edge research coming out of the university. And my co-founders had invented this really innovative satellite technology. Trying to solve a really nerdy? Can you cut that? That's not the right word.

Pete Martin 1:36

But we can keep it. Nerdy is good.

Parker Boundy 1:40

Super interesting satellite problem. How do you put these sensors that are typically on a boom, a big long stick, you keep it as far away from the satellite as possible? How do you put those inside the satellite? So you can cut the cost of the satellite, cut the weight of the satellite, make satellites easier to build. And they brought me in, joined the team to help with the commercialization side, and it's been a wild ride. Since then, um, we've done a ton both in space, but also through customer discovery and lots and lots of conversations with customers. We realized there's a huge market for that same technology on Earth as well: airplanes, drones, cars, boats, submarines. So super excited about all the applications.

Pete Martin 2:29

And this started uh what, five years ago, 20 years ago?

Parker Boundy 2:35

So my co-founder Mark has been working with magnetometers for 30 something years. This is his life's work. Um, he is truthfully like the world leading expert in magnetometers. My other co-founder, Lauro, electrical engineer, sensor fusion expert, also been doing this his entire career. Um, it is so much fun to be in a room with the two of them because they are no joke the smartest people I know. Always learning from them.

Pete Martin 3:07

And you got together with them just this past summer. So they've been working on these these challenges for decades, and and you got plugged into them through U of M's Accelerate Blue Foundry program.

Parker Boundy 3:17

Yes. So I got connected with them at the end of 2024, and we officially spun out the company last summer, end of June, early July, and then PitchMI, October 1st was kind of our coming out of stealth moment. Um probably a little earlier than we anticipated, but it's been great.

Pete Martin 3:39

Uh okay, tell me about the tell me about the Accelerate Blue uh program, right? So going through that to try and commercialize new technology, uh, what was that like?

Parker Boundy 3:48

So UofM, like a lot of top research institutions, trying to do more with all of the IP being invented at the university and trying new models. How do we get more of it out of the lab into the world? And so this program specifically trying to match up entrepreneurs with researchers. And so the university had vetted 50 different projects they had gone through and kind of deemed, hey, these are these are ready to go to market. They're they're really close. And through kind of your like a three, four-week process, matched up entrepreneurs with the researchers, and um then it was kind of like a mini accelerator. Um all the typical things you do in a startup accelerator, talking about customer discovery, sales, go to market, putting pitch materials together, um culminating in a a pitch day in front of Michigan faculty, venture capitalists, things like that. And um I think there were 11 or 12 companies at the end of that um who made it through there and then went through the whole licensing thing. So you know, General Orbit, we license all the IP from the university. Yeah, great process. They were great to work with, a lot of fun. They've been huge supporters, um, both of us as a company. Um we have mentors through the the program that I still talk with every Thursday and Friday.

Pete Martin 5:18

Yeah. Uh man, I love it. We um it's something that I didn't know. So we, you know, my wife and I moved back about three years ago. Uh, and I had no idea that uh there was first of all, I had no idea that there were so many startups being built in Michigan. Uh, and then secondly, that there were so many opportunities like what you went through with U of M, uh, but at also Michigan State. And we with the Research Foundation, we work with Michigan State a lot to license to not help people license technology, spin out new technologies from the university, uh, but also Wayne State has it, Michigan Tech has that. There's IP available to license at all of these universities. I say all of that to say if you are someone that has worked in where were you working before you uh before you got involved with this and you launched your company?

Parker Boundy 5:59

I was working uh Metro Detroit at a manufacturing firm.

How the Technology Works

Pete Martin 6:03

Right. So you uh uh a career in corporate or in manufacturing, not in startups, right? And that you've made the leap to startups, and I would say rather successfully so far, and I freaking love it, and I can't wait to see where you go. Uh so if you're listening to the podcast and you're interested in in in potentially launching a new company, there are many ways to do that. You can go to U of M, you can go to MSU, go to the different universities that are around Michigan. We have one one of the best states in the country for for research for just R&D. And there is there is great technology waiting to be licensed and brought into the world. And Parker's a great example of one that's coming to the world in a really, really, really big way. So you started off with uh, you know, the goal is to make satellites cheaper and easier to manufacture. Uh and uh over the last, let's say, six months, things have kind of honed in a lot, right? Like where where where is that gone? Where have your conversations taken you?

Parker Boundy 6:53

Oh my goodness. So what we discovered, our our core product, we call it a software-defined magnetometer, which is a really wordy way of saying we use software to overcome a lot of the physics that typically hinder magnetometers. And magnetometer is a sensor for measuring magnetic fields. On satellites, you use them for science, but also for positioning the satellite, understanding where in space, uh-huh.

Pete Martin 7:21

Um it's so good. It's so good.

Parker Boundy 7:26

Historically, to overcome the issues of sensors, you would use, as I mentioned, a big boom, a big stick to keep it as far away from the satellite as possible, or mechanical shielding, or frankly, you might start from the beginning to design for what they call magnetic cleanliness and making sure that the satellite bus doesn't have stray magnetic interferences anywhere. And all of those are as you'd expect. They're expensive, they take a lot of time and a lot of risk to your satellite, and it ends up those same challenges you have in a satellite, you'd have anywhere else you'd want to use a magnetometer. A car, a plane. Think about a plane, it's a giant steel structure with all sorts of electronics inside of there, and all of that gives off uh magnetic interferences. And so our core technology is being able to filter out all of those potential interferences and isolate Earth's ambient magnetic field without knowing anything about the vehicle we're on. We don't have to calibrate it ahead of time. It's gonna plug and play, and all of our signal processing can both filter all of them out, but it can actually also reconstruct each of the individual source signals as well. So really cool tech.

Pete Martin 8:47

So if you were to explain that to one of your kids, for example, it's bedtime and you're telling them about magnetometers, bigger word than they're used to. How would you describe like what this thing does in in real life?

Parker Boundy 9:00

Well, it's really easy to explain to my nine-month-old. There you go. Because she'll just look at me and go, ah, dada, dad a, so golden there. Um okay, jokes aside. What we're able to do is get extremely highly accurate sensor readings from anything anywhere. And that unlocks a lot of really cool capabilities. And the biggest one that we're now focused on is this technology called magnetic navigation, using Earth's crustal magnetic field to determine where you are as a complement or replacement for GPS. So let's say you're in an autonomous cab and you're you're taking a right turn down a street in New York and you have all the big buildings. Well, you're robo taxi, it can't stop in the middle of the road if it gets confused or or the GPS signal thinks you're two streets over. It has to safely keep operating. It needs to keep the passengers safe and it needs to keep moving. Its whole business model is about yield on the cars or um a drone delivery service. Same thing. It's flying overhead of people. It can't afford to for for safety reasons, for operational reasons, it can't stop. It can't afford to be confused. And so you need a whole suite of different sensors to ensure going the right direction safely. Magnetometers, really innovative way to do that. Because again, we can fingerprint exactly where you are on Earth using the magnetic signature of rocks in the ground.

Pete Martin 10:41

Unbelievably cool. The the the way that I uh think of this in my way less technical brain, uh, because you kind of mentioned it's like the future of GPS, right? Is you're you don't have to rely on satellite positioning anymore. You can you can use these sensors, which are going to be more accurate and more resilient, right? So you think of even from a defense use case and from the fact that like it's uh I think well known now that GPS can be spoofed, and we've seen that with like ships uh out at sea all of a sudden being in in way different locations and and things like that. Uh, you have a way to solve for for that problem.

Market Interest and Early Momentum

Parker Boundy 11:17

Yeah, super exciting. As you mentioned, the dual use technology, a lot of both fastening commercial applications and then obviously defense as well.

Pete Martin 11:27

So uh with this new technology, you have been getting a lot of interest, uh, and I don't want to steal any thunder ahead of this championship on April 7th. Uh, but are there um I because you haven't done any deployments yet? Because new technology, uh, but are there folks that you're talking to that are generating a lot of interest that uh you are able to share? You don't have to say the names. I'm looking at Parker right now, and he's giving me looks like you're stealing I'm not trying to steal the thunder.

Parker Boundy 11:59

So you're right. Uh this technology, you have very long sales cycles. So that six-month window between the PitchMI regionals and uh the finals is is a pretty tough um window to have everything line up, but we've had amazing conversations with numerous commercial uh prospective customers, um space agencies, um you know, your big commercial space companies, um as well as defense customers, three-letter agencies, um both domestic and and international as well. So a lot of um really exciting conversations were happening um or having and you know, excited to see where things go over the next bit.

Pete Martin 12:46

I think um you know there's a lot there's a lot happening behind the scenes with General Orbit that um you know, we had the same thing when we were building our our uh startup back in the day, that we were talking to three-letter agencies and we weren't like I wasn't able to tell my wife about the things that we were doing and who we were talking to, and it was uh it was very exciting, but it was not so fun not being able to talk about it. And so I look forward to when that is possible for you guys.

Parker Boundy 13:09

Yeah, we're excited. You know, hardware is is hard by definition, and then you layer on the physics we're trying to solve for it is really, really complicated. But I am so proud of how fast our team moves despite all of these challenges, just the kind of nature of the business we're in. The level of execution is unlike anything I've seen at any company I've worked at before.

Pete Martin 13:35

That's that's proper startup life, man. There's people people work in 24-7 because it's fun, right? It it becomes fun and and what you're building is really exciting. Uh and to that point, you know, let's say that General Orbit gets adopted uh everywhere, right? And all of a sudden everybody's using this. What is the what's the future look like if everyone is using your product?

Parker Boundy 13:56

I think the most exciting part about like what the future looks like is more autonomy, more autonomous vehicles, cars, drones, robots, you name it, that we can um unlock new capabilities, new uh industries and uh gonna be uh a core technology in a lot of those um new mobility solutions that you and I probably haven't even thought of yet.

Pete Martin 14:27

I think that's right, man. Uh that is where the future is going. It has to be. Uh, and when you have more dense electronics uh and especially larger cities and everything like that, you're gonna need a system like this. And uh the dual use use cases there, right? Like better better better defense systems too, more resilient defense systems too. Uh super cool, super cool. Um okay. You spun out of U of M through Accelerate Blue Foundry uh and then went through Pitch MI. And uh now MSU Research Foundation has uh been involved. We're on the cap table, happy to be on the cap table of of what you're building. What has that experience been like uh having having us in your corner?

Parker Boundy 15:09

Amazing. I'm so so thankful. Um, you, Moody, Tommy have been just so invaluable. Uh just this weekend I'm reaching out. Hey, any chance anybody knows somebody who can help with you know weird problem I'm having? And you're the first person to respond always with not just a suggestion, but uh a solution. And having a team like MSU Research Foundation behind you who's cheering you on, you know, in your corner, moral support, helping you, but but also like tactically helping with whatever weird scenario comes up. And everybody always wants to help and they have good intentions, but I have to say that the MSU Research Foundation team has been so great at making connections to actually solve the problems we're facing.

Pete Martin 15:59

I'm gonna uh we're gonna take that 30 seconds and just like put it everywhere. Uh for our own team, we're gonna put it everywhere.

Parker Boundy 16:07

You should look if you're you know thinking about building a startup in Michigan, I highly recommend as early as you possibly can start making connections with the team at the MSU Research Foundation. They are incredible, they are incredibly helpful, they know everybody, they have their pulse on everything that's happening, and they are going to be a huge, huge, not just supporter, but um almost like another team member.

Pete Martin 16:35

That's that it truly is the goal. We, you know, I've been here for a little over a year now, uh, and we've talked about it with the team since since well before I got here, but certainly since I've I've come on board as well. What we aim to do is be one of the most value-added investors on your cap table. And it's super easy to say that and really hard. Uh actually it's not, it's not hard to do. You just have to do it really consistently. Like making a connection, writing an email and introducing a couple of people together, like that's really easy. You just have to do it over and over and over again. Uh, and we still fall down a lot, right? But we make a lot of good connections for our portfolio companies too.

Parker Boundy 17:08

The last part that's the most important, the good connections. A lot of people make connections, but you know, when you're doing a startup, cash and time are your two more scarce resources, and everybody wants to make introductions, and they're not always gonna pan out the way you hoped. And I can't tell you there are times I'm like, hmm, probably wasn't the best use of my time. Yeah. And to have some here corner who's not just making a recommendation, but a recommendation you know is going to be great, it's invaluable.

Pete Martin 17:39

I love it. Uh, I also a second Parker's uh comment that uh getting in touch with folks early, uh, especially like even the MSU Research Foundation, even if it's a little bit too early for us to invest, we have people that help way before we invest. We have folks all over the uh all over the state. Our listeners may know this already, but we have folks in East Lansing in Detroit and Grand Rapids and Traverse City. We have people up in the UP. Uh and so we want to help regardless of where of where you're at in building your company. Thanks for that shout out. That was super nice. Uh okay, so let's talk about PitchMI. We've talked about it a couple of times already, but I I want to go back to the very beginning. Uh so we announced uh we came this thing came really hot and really heavy uh across all of Michigan uh all at once, right? Uh and so do you recall where you were when you learned about PitchMI uh and your decision to apply?

Parker Boundy 18:26

Yes. So one of my mentors through U of M sent the details on to me, said, Hey, you should think about it. And I was kind of on the fence. Uh, I don't know if we're ready. It's a little early, don't have a whole lot of traction. We have a great story, got great technology, but it's a pitch competition. There, there's kind of certain boxes you have to check to be competitive. And I wasn't really sure. Uh, that said, the application, kind of painless, quick, and so finally got in my own way and said, Oh, why not? What do I have to lose?

PitchMI Experience and Founder Community

Pete Martin 18:59

I love it. And you get selected, you competed in Detroit, you won not $250,000, but $375,000 because the folks at Assembly Ventures came in and co-invested alongside us. Uh, and then the last uh almost six months now, we're about what are we, five? We're five months into the six-month period between our regional events and and this championship. Uh, what has that been like? How has growth been? Uh, what are the and we've done some fun things together? What have what uh can you describe some of the fun things that we've done to help uh not just be entertaining but also like educate you guys and help you guys on your journeys?

Parker Boundy 19:32

Yeah, so I'm sure your listeners have heard about the uh events and and preparation you've been uh helping us with the uh improv day in in Royal Oak, the day at New lab in Detroit with um Hein and the Huck Finch team and Arturo uh helping make sure we look our best on stage. Um yeah, just oh both a lot of fun, but a lot of just great nuggets he can take from there to help us, not just for PitchMI, I'm sure the the improv is gonna help on stage, of course, but helping us as business leaders and professionals just be that much better, that much more comfortable in our own skin.

Pete Martin 20:15

It was great. And and how has it been connecting with the other three finalists that are that are gonna be competing? I guess competing against you, but more competing with you uh on April 7th.

Parker Boundy 20:25

Yeah, that's the most fun part. We don't actually compete with each other. We don't really compete for talent, we don't compete for customers. Um we get to support each other. And sure, for a couple of hours on April 7th, yeah, we'll compete against each other. But beyond that, um, you know, we've all kind of become friends. And it's great to get to know them, their teams, uh, and and support them on their journey as they're growing their businesses.

Pete Martin 20:50

I think um it might not have been stated when we put out PitchMI the way that we did, uh, but the goal with all of the stuff that we do, in particular with with Pitch MI and these four finalists, was to bring you four together in a way, in fun ways to that would help you bond together, you know, uh so that you can become friends, so that you can support each other throughout your entire journeys. And I really hope that that happens. I know like we've talked about it on the podcast already, the sec the secret uh text thread, not so secret anymore, the text thread that the four founders have. I just loved that that happened. We didn't ask you guys to do that, you just did it. Uh, and you're communicating with each other and supporting each other. And I think that is uh that's the culture that we love to see in Michigan as founders supporting other founders.

Parker Boundy 21:31

A lot of support. It's a great, great group of people. Um lucky to have them as friends. And you know what I'm most proud of, Pete?

Pete Martin 21:39

What's that?

Parker Boundy 21:41

Since PitchMI, we've doubled the size of our team. So we've gone from three to six, and it gets better. All the three new hires we've made educated from Michigan universities, two from U of M, one from Michigan State, and the gentleman from Michigan State, he's actually Actually moving across the country back to Michigan to work at General Orbit. I'm so proud.

Pete Martin 22:07

This is the dream. You know, it really is. Oh, it's so good. Thank you for sharing that. I have a a couple more questions for you and then a and then a personal question. Don't let me forget to ask because I I think it's it should be really good. Um what advice do you have for a founder in Michigan or a potential founder in Michigan that is looking to start a business that hasn't yet taken that leap?

Parker Boundy 22:33

First thing I'd recommend Go get some coffee with other founders. Pick their brains. Go learn for them. Make sure it's for you because it's it's tough. It's hard. It's um a lot of really high highs and a lot of very low lows. And um hopefully they happen the same day so they kind of even out. But um go start to meet people and network and and build a community of other founders. So you have a bit of a support system group of of friends who are going through similar things or have recently gone through it because it's gonna be invaluable as you go through that journey.

Pete Martin 23:10

Oh, I love it. Yeah, um, great advice. And there there are meetups that happen across the state. Uh I guess what it still happens monthly. I think Michigan Founders Fund puts us on the Founders First Friday meetups. They happen in cities all across the country. I've heard they're great.

Parker Boundy 23:24

I haven't had the chance to attend, but um they're great.

Pete Martin 23:27

They're great. It's a it is like the best way to learn from people that are going down the path. You know, they might be just uh two steps ahead of you. And it's it's such a good way to say, here's the challenges that I have, and get real advice from real people that that know that are as uh crazy as you are, because you have to be a little crazy to go down this path, I think. Um but to get advice from folks that uh are similar to you that want to see you succeed here in the state, uh a great way to do it. There's lots of other meetups that that happen across the state too, uh, but a great way to get in touch with other founders. Totally agree. Um now, do you have advice for because we're gonna do PitchMI again, right? We'll we'll we'll do it again this year. Spoiler alert, this fall, we will do it again this fall. We're not gonna release the dates yet. Uh, but do you have advice for a founder in Michigan, or I guess someone that's looking to move to Michigan, because that would work too, uh, on how they might, you know, if they're thinking about applying to PitchMI, um, whether or not they should, or what, what, what advice would you have for someone that's considering that?

Parker Boundy 24:21

Do it. You have nothing to lose. Truthfully, um, worst case, you've honed your story. You've gotten more practice at succinctly articulating what sets your company apart. You're only gonna learn and grow from that. And if you do get selected, what an incredible opportunity to get on stage and and share your story even more broadly. And hopefully there'll be another opportunity after that, and after that to uh apply again.

Pete Martin 24:50

Full fully agree. Uh I would say, yeah, even if you don't get selected, our goal is to get is to get value to you. It's the the benefit of just applying is we now know who you are. We might not have, like Parker, we hadn't met. You and I had not met. I had no idea, like I didn't know you existed, right? And and because of PitchMI, we've gotten to know each other, and that's awesome, right? Uh, there are many people that applied that we did not know existed that we've then now been able to talk to and get into different programs that we're doing here at MSU Research Foundation because of just the fact that they that they applied. And so if even if you are early, even if you don't get selected, the goal is that we're gonna provide value to you regardless. So please, please do apply. Um, okay, one more question for you. Uh you're a parent uh of young children and you are going down this path of venture capital and building a high growth business. What is that like? Uh, and how do you do it?

Parker Boundy 25:43

It's tough. It's tough. Um add to that too. I I have an incredibly supportive wife who also has a very demanding career as well. Incredibly busy, all four of us are. But I'm not a big fan of work-life balance. I'd say more like from when I come home until the kids go to bed, I unplug and I just focus on them. And from when they wake up way too early in the morning until they go to school, focus 100% on them. Headphones, laptops down. All that can wait. It'll be there in a little bit when the kids go to bed at 7 30 on the dot and go work. But for those couple hours there in the evening, all the focus is on them. And I know they enjoy it, but I get so much more enjoyment out of it. That's great. Just spending time and and playing with them, and it's so rewarding.

Pete Martin 26:44

So it's possible to go down the path of building a very successful high-growth business, raising venture capital, the crazy demands that come with that, while also having a great life at home, raising kids, and being present in their lives.

Parker Boundy 26:59

It is possible. It's hard. I got a lot of gray hairs. I've come out of nowhere, but it's so worth it. It's it's very fulfilling.

Pete Martin 27:08

I love it. Uh, where can people learn more about you and General Orbit and what y'all are up to?

Parker Boundy 27:13

Generalorbit.com. Go check out uh website, reach out, parker@generalorbit.com. Love to uh connect with anybody who wants to learn more.

Closing Remarks

Pete Martin 27:24

Done. Love it. Uh thank you so much, Parker Boundy of General Orbit. Thank you so much for being on the show. That uh wraps up all of our Pitch MI podcast episodes. Thanks for listening.

Parker Boundy 27:34

Thanks for having me.