Michigan · Public charity
Start Garden Inc
The mission of start garden is to bring together financial, intellectual, and social capital to entrepreneurs to empower the startup ecosystem of west michigan.
- $778k
- Granted FY2025(still arriving)
- 19
- Itemized grants FY2025
- 17
- Organizations funded FY2024
- 76%
- First-time grantees FY2024
- Itemized, FY2025
- $286k
- The rest is grants the schedule does not break out
- Median grant, FY2025
- $21,000
- Largest grant, FY2025
- $26,000
- Organizations funded a year
- 4 to 28
- FY2018 to FY2024
- States reached, FY2025
- 1
- Total assets, FY2025
- $2.3M
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2024, 76% of the organizations Start Garden Inc funded were first-time grantees, receiving 78% of its grant dollars.
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2024, 22% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $314k went to new ones.
RenewedFirst-time
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
Human ServicesOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.
The numbers by year
| Fiscal year | Organizations funded | To those organizations | First-time grantees |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025still arriving | 19 | $286k | 100% |
| FY2024 | 17 | $402k | 76% |
| FY2023 | 6 | $62k | 67% |
| FY2022 | 4 | $40k | 100% |
| FY2021 | 8 | $131k | 75% |
| FY2020 | 28 | $148k | 89% |
| FY2019 | 6 | $78k | 100% |
| FY2018 | 14 | $218k | n/a |
95% classified
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2024.
Arts & Culture$267kCommunity Improvement$230kFood & Nutrition$147kHealth$105kYouth Development$95kScience & Tech$79kCrime & Legal$26kPublic Safety & Disaster$20kOther$0
Top grantees
Largest recipients by total granted, FY2018 to FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Captus Creative | $76,037 | 1 | n/a |
| Athlytic | $55,000 | 2 | n/a |
| Supreme Focus Entertainment | $50,500 | 1 | n/a |
| Peadbo Inc | $50,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Moodful Insights LLC | $40,000 | 2 | n/a |
| Luxe Artisan Preserves | $36,000 | 3 | n/a |
| Seamless Ventures LLC | $27,750 | 1 | n/a |
| Freedom Elevated Defense Solutions | $26,000 | 2 | n/a |
| Aurora International Foods LLC | $26,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Ana Olson Las Amigas Tequila LLC | $26,000 | 1 | n/a |
Show all 84 grantees
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Captus Creative | $76,037 | 1 | n/a |
| Athlytic | $55,000 | 2 | n/a |
| Supreme Focus Entertainment | $50,500 | 1 | n/a |
| Peadbo Inc | $50,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Moodful Insights LLC | $40,000 | 2 | n/a |
| Luxe Artisan Preserves | $36,000 | 3 | n/a |
| Seamless Ventures LLC | $27,750 | 1 | n/a |
| Freedom Elevated Defense Solutions | $26,000 | 2 | n/a |
| Aurora International Foods LLC | $26,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Ana Olson Las Amigas Tequila LLC | $26,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Wear Your Curls | $25,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Willowbrook Farms | $25,000 | 1 | n/a |
| The Only Bean | $25,000 | 1 | n/a |
| ContinUse Biometrics LTD | $23,070 | 1 | n/a |
| Casey McKellar Kimberlite Tech LLC | $21,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Reel Free LLC | $21,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Shelby Kelsh | $21,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Wareologie LLC | $21,000 | 1 | n/a |
| GR Noir LLC | $21,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Polished Crown | $21,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Tiffany Brown | $21,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Ailin Gutierrez | $21,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Sharp & Flat Inc | $21,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Travis Washington Cre8tively Captur | $21,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Jeremiah White Jr Reflections 5001 | $21,000 | 1 | n/a |
| South East Market LLC | $21,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Jared Seifert Design Declassified | $21,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Lindsay Joseph | $21,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Wimage | $20,000 | 2 | n/a |
| Rosefellows Collective LLC | $20,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Spirit Fire LLC | $20,000 | 1 | n/a |
| A3stetically Pleasing | $20,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Navarros LLC | $20,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Black Quieen Bee LLC | $17,000 | 2 | n/a |
| Vive Michigan Magazine Inc | $12,500 | 2 | n/a |
| Inceptioneering LLC | $10,024 | 1 | n/a |
| Life is Digital | $10,000 | 2 | n/a |
| Mindset Meals LLC | $10,000 | 2 | n/a |
| Opnr Inc | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Black Calder Brewing Company LLC | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Grand Rapids Area Black Business | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Pack Elephant Inc | $10,000 | 2 | n/a |
| El Granjero LLC | $7,500 | 1 | n/a |
| Robinson's Popcorn | $6,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Isela Alvarez | $6,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Tim Lee Salty LLC | $6,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Cynthia Hines Paws Paws Pickles LLC | $6,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Meknology Inc | $6,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Valerie James LLC | $6,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Alexia Price Oneal Body Party | $6,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Blackbird RSVP | $5,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Ambiance GR LLC | $5,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Cnn Group LLC | $5,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Hey Sugar Co | $5,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Genesis Quinones | $5,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Wisdom Center LLC | $5,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Ellas Eve Cosmetics | $5,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Muse Gr LLC | $5,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Fashion Has Heart | $5,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Old World Olive | $5,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Bare All Clothing | $5,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Tacos El Cunado | $5,000 | 1 | n/a |
| La Casa del Pollo Loco | $5,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Aghelp | $5,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Della Marie Levi | $5,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Photo Up | $5,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Edgerow Property Management | $5,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Nedith Faro Art and Photography | $5,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Polished Nail Bar & Spa | $5,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Nicolette Du Pont Side Door Corp | $5,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Life Addicts LLC | $5,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Rituil LLC | $5,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Irie Kitchen | $5,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Rise Salon LLC | $5,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Stinkin Clean Bins LLP | $5,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Supreme Focus Entertainment | $5,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Preemier Diagnostics LLC | $5,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Mosbys Popcorn | $5,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Abeshi LLC | $5,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Pochis Style Designs | $5,000 | 1 | n/a |
| El Globo Restaurant LLC | $5,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Rise Authentic Baking Co | $5,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Loves Ice Cream & Chocolate | $5,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Emergency Medicine Innovations | $5,000 | 1 | n/a |
Plus 7 recipients with no EIN on record ($140k), not named here.
Co-funders
Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a set of overlaps that mostly run through this funder rather than between each other.
The Right Place IncMI31.5× affinity15 shared granteesties to 0 of 0Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →
Open a dossier: The Right Place Inc
How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.
About Start Garden Inc
- How much does Start Garden Inc give?
- Start Garden Inc reported 19 itemized grants totaling $286,000, out of $777,955 in total grant expense reported on the return in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 4 and 28 organizations a year over FY2018 to FY2024.
- What does Start Garden Inc fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2018 to FY2025, its largest causes are Arts & Culture (25%), Community Improvement (21%), Food & Nutrition (14%).
- Who are Start Garden Inc's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2018 to FY2025: Captus Creative ($76k), Athlytic ($55k), Supreme Focus Entertainment ($51k).
- Does Start Garden Inc fund new organizations?
- In FY2024, 76% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Which funders back the same organizations as Start Garden Inc?
- Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include The Right Place Inc.
- Where is Start Garden Inc based?
- Start Garden Inc is based in MI.
Play a game based on Start Garden’s filings →
More from the funding graph
The unnamed billions
grants reported with no recipient in the public record
The regranting layer
51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
The DAF merry-go-round
$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
The endowment market
who holds foundation money, and what just moved
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home