Grand Rapids

ABOUT STARTUP GRIND

Startup Grind is the largest independent startup community, actively educating, inspiring, and connecting more than 4,500,000 entrepreneurs in over 700 chapters. We nurture startup ecosystems in 125+ countries through events, media, and partnerships with organizations like Amazon Web Services, Silicon Valley Bank, American Express for Startups, and more.

The cornerstone of our global community are monthly events featuring successful local founders, innovators, educators and investors who share lessons learned on the road to building great companies. 

Founded in Silicon Valley, Startup Grind has helped millions of entrepreneurs build their businesses, connect with strategic partners, and secure funding.

OUR MISSION

To educate, inspire & connect area entrepreneurs.

OUR VALUES

Help others before we help ourselves, give before we take, make friends not contacts.

ABOUT OUR CHAPTER

Founded in December 2019, the West Michigan / Grand Rapids chapter of Startup Grind acts as the connective tissue between all the great resources in our community. 

As such, we are here for those who are trying to navigate the landscape of great resources available. 

We also serve to contribute to the conversation as we all work to grow our entrepreneur and startup ecosystem.

GLOBAL STARTUP GRIND AWARDS

🎉🔥 GLOBAL CHAPTER DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR 2021 🚀🕺

🚀 Overachiever Award at the Global Director's Summit 2021 🦾
🚀 The Most Fun to Work With Award at the Global Director's Summit 2021 🎉
🚀 The Bull Award at the Global Director's Summit 2021 🐂
🚀 Chapter Director of the Year at the Global Director's Summit 2021 🎉🔥🚀🕺

🚀 Overachiever Award at the Global Director's Summit 2022 🦾
🚀 The Bull Award at the Global Director's Summit 2022 🐂

🚀 The Lion Award at the Global Director's Summit 2024 🦁

ABOUT OUR ECOSYSTEM

There are some incredible people, public and private organizations, and nonprofits working very hard to ensure the entrepreneurial and startup ecosystem in the Great Lakes is well supported.

Whether you're in the ideation stage, fundraising, looking for talent, or whatever stage of your endeavor, there's some incredible support available.

Need help navigating? Reach out!

ABOUT OUR REGION

The Great Lakes region is no longer the best-kept-secret in tech. 

Encompassing great talent and capital hubs around the Great Lakes, we've got powerful tech cities like Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, St. Louis, Detroit, Buffalo, Traverse City, Ann Arbor, Waterloo, Toronto, among others.

According to the 2021 Michigan Venture Capital Association Report:

• 15 percent of Michigan venture-backed startups were led by a CEO who is a person of color, compared to 7.4 percent of CEOs of Fortune 500 companies nationally.
• Every dollar invested by a Michigan startup by a Michigan venture capital firm attracts $9.70 of investment from outside of Michigan.
• There are 26 venture capital firms headquartered or with an office in Michigan.
• There are 165 venture-backed startups in Michigan, an increase of 17 percent over the last five years.
  
• Total venture capital under management in Michigan is $3.7 billion, a decrease of 31 percent over the last five years.
• 542 venture firms from outside of Michigan have invested in Michigan-based startups.
• In Michigan, 102 startups raised over $49.5 million from angel investors in 2020. 

OUR TALKS

We highlight local CEOs, Founders, ecosystem builders, thought leaders for Fireside Chats. We also host workshops from expert practitioners around branding, scaling, leadership, pitching, mindset... and also on to develop skills you can use IN the business.

Here's a list of some of our greatest events featuring those from our Michigan ecosystem:

• #SGWomen Month: Women's Unique Relationship w/ Failure feat. Anna Beaten, Chrissy Heyne & Chloe Beevers of Failure Lab - SHE
• Susie Morozowich (LMSW, LCSW). The Impact of Mental Health on Entrepreneurs
• Using the Color Green to Move the Dial on DE&I w/ Jim Roberts of Jim Roberts Enterprises, LLC
• Leading Change Through Wellness w/ Gaurav Goomer of MyLifeWell.com
  
• Startup Grind Pitch Battle Grand Rapids Lansing Michigan Champion Showcase
  
• Creating a Pitch that Gets Results with Barbara Boldt
  
• #SGWomen Month: From Idea to Exit: Innovating, Fundraising & Pivoting During Crisis
  
• #SGWomen Month: Female Leadership & Entrepreneurship in Michigan Moderated by Terry Barclay
  
• Presented with AWS, Communicating in the Upside Down: An Epic Ask Me Anything w/ Eric Hultgren
  
• TECH + TALENT + EQUITY & CREATING THE BEST NEXT NORMAL
  
• Overcoming Adversity with Creativity & Grit w/ Erika Plunkett of Ama International
  
• Scaling Teams with a Culture-First Mindset w/ Chip LaFleur of LaFleur Marketing
  
• Creating a Business with Authenticity, Resiliency & Integrity w/ Cara Fedewa Debbaudt of BloomBright
  

HOW YOU CAN HELP SG GRAND RAPIDS?

We need:

• Speakers
• Workshop leaders
• Volunteers
• Sponsors
• In-kind partnerships (like refreshments!!)

Reach out to the Chapter Director, Corey Hart at corey@startupgrind.com or the Co-Director Renee De Haan at renee@startupgrind.com.