RICK DeVOS could not wait to leave Grand Rapids, Mich. After high school, he made a beeline to Pepperdine University near Los Angeles and spent a year studying in London, but eventually returned home to finish his degree at Calvin College. “My family has deep roots in Grand Rapids,” he said. “I missed the grounding and humility of the Midwest.”
Now, Mr. DeVos, 30, the grandson of the Amway co-founder Richard DeVos, is trying to infuse the entrepreneurial spirit of big cities in his hometown of 190,000 people.
In April, he began Start Garden, a $15 million early-stage venture capital fund backed by his family. Start-ups, which initially receive $5,000 in seed capital, have three months to prove their ideas and compete for additional financing at a monthly event called Update Night. It is not nearly as cutthroat as “Shark Tank,” Mr. DeVos said, referring to the reality show about entrepreneurs. “But it is a little counterculture to the Midwest, where people are used to hearing: ‘That’s a nice idea. Let’s keep in touch.’ ”
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