Grounded has raised $5 million in seed funding from existing backers Also Capital and The 81 Collection, plus Animal Capital, the Michigan Outdoor Innovation Fund, and SpaceX alumni. The Detroit startup pivoted from customizing electric vans for van-life to outfitting both electric and gas-powered vans for small businesses and fleets after GM discontinued BrightDrop and Ford axed next-gen EV Transit plans.
The company opened a 50,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Detroit to scale its modular, vehicle-agnostic design system. Production starts this month with capacity ramping next year. Customers include Colgate, Nokia, Wayne State University Medical, and the Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Hawaii, with growing demand from food, beverage, and public safety sectors.