Wakestream Ventures

Wakestream Ventures is a Grand Rapids, Michigan-based early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2012, originally as an investment arm associated with the Start Garden entrepreneurship platform and now operated as a standalone fund. The firm is founded and led by CEO Rick DeVos, a Michigan civic entrepreneur and founder of ArtPrize, alongside Chief Investment Officer Mike DeVries, Partner Kim Pasquino and Entrepreneur in Residence Benjamin Gott. Wakestream's thesis explicitly mines the Midwest's deep operating bench in industrial design, advanced manufacturing, and global enterprise distribution: the firm backs 'fascinating founders' building at the intersection of physical products and the internet, IoT, connected devices, vertical SaaS for legacy industries, medical devices, mobility and industrial automation, and it is willing to lead. Initial check sizes range from $150K to $500K with cumulative follow-on commitments of up to $1.5M across Seed, Series A and Series B rounds. Across 50 disclosed portfolio companies and 14 acquisitions plus one IPO, named outcomes include Shoulder Innovations, whose Series A Wakestream led and which IPO'd on the NYSE in July 2025 at a $299M market cap, Work Truck Solutions, the firm's most recent exit in March 2025, and Jiobit, the children's and pets GPS tracker acquired by Life360. Recent new investments include space ground-station company ATLAS Space Operations, a Series B-II in September 2024, and pinball IoT company Scorbit in November 2025. By mining the Midwest's manufacturing and distribution strengths, Wakestream Ventures backs founders building at the intersection of physical products and the internet.