Coverage from Western Herald, published 2026-04-16.
Samuel Marseille, a Western Michigan University graduate student, captured both prizes at the inaugural Cultivate 269 pitch competition on April 10, collecting $25,000 from the public vote and $75,000 from the judges for a $100,000 total. The event was staged at the WMU Student Center by Kalamazoo Forward Ventures and the university as a forum for founders, entrepreneurs and investors to connect. Marseille’s venture, OneShot AI, pairs artificial intelligence with human interpreters in what the company bills as the first HIPAA-compliant system of its kind; it currently handles ten languages, among them Spanish, Arabic, Haitian Creole, Swahili and Pashto.
Marseille, who speaks four languages, said he was motivated by a hospital case in which a family waited five hours for a French interpreter. Judges scored entries blind on founder story, market innovation and the impact of funding. The prize money will go toward finalizing a patent, adding languages and supporting a June pilot.
The Western Herald reported that former mayor Bobby Hopewell said every finalist would receive a separate $25,000 award. Other coverage described $25,000 total for finalist support services, so the figure remains unresolved. KZFV said it intends to run the contest annually.
