A Detroit electric vehicle maker that builds custom vans for commercial fleets has just opened a 50,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Southwest Detroit, adding jobs and production capacity after nearly relocating to Austin, Texas. Grounded, founded by former SpaceX engineer Sam Shapiro, cut the ribbon on its new plant at 4617 W. Fort St. on Tuesday, with Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield on hand for the grand opening.
The company says it plans to add 56 jobs over the next two and a half years, with 21 new positions coming in 2027 and 35 more in 2028, according to MLive. The new facility, previously operated by automotive seating supplier Bridgewater Interiors LLC, replaces a smaller Michigan Central-owned industrial space Grounded had outgrown, per the same report, and the shift has already increased production capacity by 1,900 percent.
Grounded's decision to stay came close to going the other way. The Detroit Economic Growth Corporation says the company came close to relocating to Austin before DEGC helped it find the larger Fort Street site, a move the agency frames as reinforcing Detroit's effort to keep home-grown mobility startups from migrating to Texas or Silicon Valley.
From a Pandemic Van Conversion to a SpaceX-Trained Founder's Startup
Shapiro's path to Grounded began with a converted Chevy Express van during the 2020 pandemic, after a stint as a senior software engineer writing embedded software for SpaceX's Starlink hardware, according to Tech Brew. He launched the company in 2022 after running into engine and power limitations on a six-month road trip in a traditional gas campervan, the outlet reports.
Grounded's first commercial product, the G1 electric campervan built on the Ford E-Transit chassis, debuted in early 2023 with a $125,000 starting price, a 108-mile range, and a 68-kWh battery, as detailed by The Autopian. The company then moved quickly to higher-capacity models: the G2 and G3, built on General Motors' BrightDrop Zevo platforms, extended single-charge range to 250 and 286 miles by pairing a 165-kWh GM Ultium propulsion battery with a 10-kWh house battery and solar rooftop panels, according to Electrek.
That product evolution was backed by a $3.5 million pre-seed round Grounded raised in October 2024 to accelerate its Modulo upfitting assembly system, after the company had already logged $3 million in early vehicle sales. Investors in that round included SpaceX Starlink Development Manager Tony Lyscio, the company said in its own announcement.
A Pivot Toward Gas and Electric Fleet Vehicles
Grounded closed a $5 million seed funding round in August, money the company is using to fund a shift toward a vehicle-agnostic modular box architecture that fits both electric and internal combustion engine chassis, according to M4SNews. Grounded says the new box platform will reach a larger commercial market by expanding beyond electric campervans into utility vehicles for healthcare, delivery, and public safety fleets. The vehicles can be customized for mobile medical and dental services, food service, and other field operations, per MLive.
Grounded's customer roster already spans that range of uses, including Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies, Wayne State University Medical, Coffee Fellows, Nokia, Colgate, and Petevolution, per the same MLive report. Nearly all of the company's employees are from Detroit or Michigan, the outlet notes, and the company says it plans to hire dozens more workers as production grows.
Shapiro said Grounded is doubling down on Detroit, telling MLive that the city retains manufacturing talent, suppliers and work ethic that made staying the right call. He added that the new facility will expand Grounded's capabilities and put more people on the floor.
City Officials Tout a Homegrown Retention Win
Grounded got its start at Newlab at Michigan Central, the 30-acre mobility innovation district anchored by Ford Motor Co.'s $950 million restoration of the historic train station and Book Depository, which hosts more than 100 technology startups sharing prototyping equipment and fabrication labs, as Hoodline has previously reported. Sheffield, sworn in as Detroit's first female mayor in January, has made startup retention and commercial corridor development central to her Rise Higher agenda since succeeding former three-term Mayor Mike Duggan.
Sheffield said Grounded is adding 56 new jobs with room to grow, and credited the DEGC with making staying in Detroit the clear choice. DEGC President and CEO Kevin Johnson said retaining Grounded exemplifies Detroit's effort to keep growing startups in the city, adding that the agency's retention program helps growing companies find larger spaces in Detroit.
Detroit has been building out programs aimed at exactly that kind of retention, including the $700,000 Detroit Startup Fund, which offers grants ranging from $15,000 to $50,000 to local technology companies and drew more than 600 applications in its first round, according to the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation. The push comes as Michigan recorded 152,060 new business applications in 2025, an increase of nearly 13 percent over the prior year, even as existing small businesses faced rising operational costs and staffing challenges, the agency reports.
Grounded's growth stands out against a volatile regional EV landscape. Other Metro Detroit startups have seen sharply different fortunes, with Bollinger Motors heading into receivership even as companies like the Bezos-backed Troy startup Slate Auto have raised massive late-stage rounds.
