Happy New Year! We hope you had a relaxing holiday season and that you’re entering January excited and ready for the year ahead. As we hit the ground running in 2026, we wanted to take a moment to look back on some highlights from the past year.
2025 was a year of transition and validation for Electric Outdoors, as we advanced from pilots to production and initiated unit deployment with a key strategic partner. We also moved our operations to a full-scale manufacturing facility in downtown Detroit, embracing the city’s deep industrial and hardtech legacy.
Here are some milestones and accomplishments we are especially proud of this year.
Product Milestones
Pilot-to-Production Transition
Early in the year, EO launched a pilot in North Georgia, marking the first EO Canopy deployed outside of Michigan. The pilot helped inform key improvements across systems, performance, and experience, directly shaping the design of the commercial units completed later in the year.
Commercial Production Units Completed
We finalized building the first batch of commercial production units, which represent EO’s first fully market-ready product. These units incorporate significant improvements in system design, layout, reliability, and user experience compared to the initial pilot and prototype units.
Portfolio Expansion
This year also marked EO’s expansion from the initial glamping and outdoor recreation use case into pursuing new verticals, including federal, emergency response, disaster relief, and tribal applications.
Manufacturing Advancements
EO moved into a new dedicated manufacturing facility in downtown Detroit, which has allowed us to efficiently scale production. The growing EO team now builds, tests, and assembles EO Canopy units in-house, creating a strong foundation for increased production capacity in 2026 and beyond.
Funding Highlights
PitchMI Competition Win
In October, EO won first prize in the Outdoor Innovation and Cleantech category at Michigan’s PitchMI pitch competition, securing a $250K investment from the Michigan Innovation Fund. The win provided strong third-party validation of EO’s technology, market opportunity, and execution capabilities. EO will return for the PitchMI finals in April, competing against winners from three more categories for an additional $1M grand prize.
Series A Raise
EO is currently gearing up to launch a Series A funding round in early 2026 in order to scale manufacturing, accelerate commercial deployments, and expand into additional markets. If you’re interested in learning more about this and other investment opportunities, please contact us.
Market and Industry Validation
Strategic Partnerships
EO announced a strategic partnership with Lovejoy Capital and Arnold Meyer, establishing Lovejoy as EO’s lead development partner for deploying EO Canopy units in multiple locations across Georgia.
Arnold Meyer has been engaged to structure project-level financing, enabling the commercial deployment of EO’s first production units and underpinning EO’s transition from pilot projects to revenue-generating, financed deployments.
The partnership establishes a repeatable P3 and project-finance model for future scale across hospitality, government, and infrastructure markets. It also validates the EO Canopy as a bankable, deployable infrastructure asset backed by reputable development and capital partners.
Press and Public Recognition
In 2025, EO was featured in a diverse range of national, regional, and industry-specific publications, including:
National & Regional Media
Industry & Sector Publications
Speaking and Industry Events
Electric Outdoors CEO Josef Hjelmaker was invited to speak or participate at several major events and conferences, including:
- Panel on The Importance of Hardtech to Reindustrialize the Midwest at the Midwest House Summit in December
- Panel on Powering the Outdoors: EVs, Clean Energy, and Off-Grid Living at Electrify Expo Chicago’s EV Reality Check Stage in September
- Manufacturing and product showcase at Newlab’s New Mobility Futures event in July
- Panel on Unlocking Capital for Early-Stage Startups: Strategies for Success in Michigan’s Evolving Funding Landscape at SXSW in March
EO is entering 2026 with several ambitious goals: scaling manufacturing, broadening commercial rollouts, expanding into new verticals, deepening strategic partnerships, and preparing for the next stage of capital growth.
We hope you’ll come along for the ride!
P.S. Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter below to stay up to date with the latest news and developments from EO.
About Electric Outdoors
Electric Outdoors wants to revolutionize how you enjoy the great outdoors sustainably. Its flagship product, the EO Canopy, makes it possible for EV owners to camp off the grid. Learn more at electricoutdoors.tech or @electricoutdoors.
Sanna Boman