GRAND RAPIDS – Early-stage venture capital company Start Garden LLC, and Emerge West Michigan, a public-private partnership focused on providing services to entrepreneurs in West Michigan 13 counties, are exploring a merger, MiBiz.Com reported.

While the process remains in the early stages, a merger of the two organizations – one a $15 million venture capital firm started by Amway scion Rick DeVos, the other a non-profit operated largely by Grand Valley State University with public and private funding – would offer a number of synergies, said Craig Hall, vice chair of the board for Emerge West Michigan.

The goal of the possible merger: growing and streamlining services for the community of entrepreneurs and startups in West Michigan, which stakeholders had been clamouring for in recent years, he said.

If the plan goes through, the two merged entities would most likely be called Start Garden and host the “ecosystem cultivating efforts” that both organizations had previously offered, according to a memo obtained by MiBiz.Com.

Hall said the parties continue to discuss the corporate structure of the new organization, but one likely outcome would be to have a non-profit parent with Start Garden continuing as a for-profit venture capital firm underneath it.

While the memo did not spell out a timeline for the merger to be completed, stakeholders involved in the discussions said more information would begin to emerge over the next 60 to 90 days.

Under a merger, Start Garden would become directly connected to many of the other entrepreneurial support systems and economic development programs available to startups, sources said.

The various support programs have worked collaboratively for the last few years, said Mike Morin, who’s in portfolio relations at Start Garden, which lists GVSU and GR Current as sponsors.

By having a single point of access for entrepreneurs under the merged organization, Start Garden and its other affiliates can help to break down barriers to access for entrepreneurs, particularly in terms of their ability to obtain capital, he said.

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