Start Garden opens new GR location

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - Since April, leaders with Start Garden have taken your business ideas and given you the money to try and make that idea a reality.

On Thursday, Start Garden founder Rick DeVos will host a private ribbon-cutting ceremony with the event partners for their new location at 50 Louis St. NW in Grand Rapids.

Watch the video above as DeVos talks to 24 Hour News 8's Brett Thomas about the latest developments.

Then on Friday, a public grand opening Lunch & Learn event will take place there, in which DeVos will introduce visitors to the new space, discuss plans for the future of Start Garden and answer questions from visitors. The event is sold out.

Start Garden is a $15 million venture capital fund for hundreds of ideas from anyone anywhere to start new businesses. You can apply at http://startgarden.com to get your idea funded. The $15 million comes from the DeVos family.

Start Garden will pick one idea weekly and the public will also pick one per week. Start Garden will fund more than 100 ideas a year.

If you are successful with the $5,000 initial investment then you can get incremental funding of $20,000, $100,000 and $500,000.

If you aren't successful with the initial funding, you do not owe Start Garden. But you must stand at a public meeting and present what you did with the money.