START GARDEN ANNOUNCES MOVE TO TRUST BUILDING IN 2015
New Space to Triple Footprint and Provide “Startup Village” for Grand Rapids
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., November 20, 2014 — Start Garden, the $15,000,000 seed fund that selects an individual idea each week to receive a $5,000 investment, based on endorsements from the public and the Start Garden team, today announced it has begun construction of an entirely new facility, overtaking the entire second floor of the Trust Building, at the corner of Pearl St. and Ottawa Ave. in downtown Grand Rapids. The new location will triple the size of Start Garden’s current footprint.
Since launching in April of 2012, Start Garden has worked to not only provide financial capital, but intellectual and social capital for entrepreneurs in the region. To accomplish this, it has been located in a storefront on the corner of Louis St. and Ionia Ave. for more than two years. Programs within the space have ranged from formal classes, to open hours with highly experienced advisors, to explaining investment decisions in front of thousands of attendees to their monthly Update Night.
“After more than two years, this move is not just a relocation of Start Garden, but a major step in our growth,” said Rick DeVos, CEO of Start Garden. “This move is a response to our ecosystem as it matures from experimenting with ideas, to building fast-growth startups. Two years ago we didn’t have a portfolio. Now, we have a substantial number of companies into which we’ve invested. Enough to populate a startup village for the region. We expect to make additional announcements after the first of the year.
As of this date, Start Garden has funded 179 $5,000 experiments. It has invested between $50,000 and $500,000 into 26 startups, making it the most active, early-stage venture capital fund in Michigan.
More about future plans will come after Start Garden moves into its new space during the first quarter of 2015. Construction partners include Lorenz & Co. (Design), AMDG Architects (Architect of Record), Triangle Associates, Inc. (Construction Manager)
Additional detail about Start Garden and its programming can be found at startgarden.com.
About Start Garden
Start Garden is an unconventional venture capital fund that invests in over a hundred ideas a year in small increments. The program brings financial, intellectual and social capital to ideas at the earliest stage by connecting them to the resources of an entire region. Located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, it is founded by Rick DeVos who’s past projects included ArtPrize, 5×5 Night, Momentum and Spout.com.
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