Advanced Aerial Mobility Activation Fund

The State of Michigan established the Advanced Aerial Mobility (AAM) Activation Fund to accelerate the development and deployment of AAM technologies and infrastructure that drive measurable benefits for all Michiganders and strengthen the state's economy. The fund aims to create a centralized pipeline of AAM projects that have the potential to validate the technical and economic feasibility of key AAM use cases, generate critical data to inform policy making, and accelerate statewide AAM readiness and growth.

Eligible projects must address a use case with clear, potential impact to the State of Michigan and are evaluated across feasibility, impact potential, and scalability. Priority criteria include technical and regulatory readiness, sustainable business models, potential to advance state climate goals by reducing emissions, ability to increase equitable access in underserved or historically disadvantaged communities, supply chain efficiency and resilience, and public-private partnerships. Initial use cases of interest include critical infrastructure inspection drones, medical supply delivery, movement of critical goods, defense and dual-use aircraft technologies, sustainable regional aviation for passenger or cargo logistics, planning and development of enabling infrastructure (such as drone ports, vertiports, and electric aircraft charging), and AAM/drone training.

The AAM Activation Fund issued a call for market-led project proposals evaluated by a cross-agency review committee on a rolling basis. However, the grant application is currently closed. Submitted applications may qualify for direct funding from one or more state entities or be used to inform future competitive solicitations. All materials submitted are subject to disclosure under the Michigan Freedom of Information Act.