That was actually my real point. For many smaller companies, it will. General programming experience plus any honest signal, even small, of low-level qualification will get you attention. We get lots of generalist candidates for our embedded positions and the #1 easiest high-signal filter for us is "how do we know they're actually interested in embedded?" Pass that, and things can open up for you.

I haven't applied for a lower level dev so far, but it gives me some encouragement to maybe try next time I want to switch positions (though I did work or get offers on some embedded dev shops, but on the web side of things).

Just an observation, but I've almost never seen job postings for entry/junior level engineers in the embedded/systems world. Only senior-staff level roles (I get the feeling that a lot of early career talent in these domains is sourced from local university pipelines). This has been my observation across both small companies and large corporations. Are these shops really considering people who's only experience is some contrived side projects at that level?