About Rick DeVos

Rick DeVos is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Wakestream Ventures.

Driven by curiosity and a desire to empower and connect others, Rick founded Wakestream Ventures (WV) to help launch innovative startup companies through early-stage investments. As CEO, he’s led WV in making over 80 investments to date.

Rick has long been energized by fresh ideas and platforms that lead individuals and organizations to engage and create, as his entrepreneurial history and WV’s own story show.

WV was originally part of Start Garden, an entity focused on growing West Michigan’s startup economy. Start Garden continues that work today as a nonprofit organization, with Rick and the DeVos family among its largest financial supporters. Through various competitions, Start Garden connects people with the “ground floor” funding they need to bring their ideas to life. The organization also provides support by fostering a connected startup community.

Rick also created ArtPrize in 2009, a social experiment designed to encourage artists and the public to engage with each other in a new way. The scale and energy of ArtPrize brought global recognition and launched it into debates across the art world and beyond, empowering the masses to have a perspective and giving them a vehicle for expressing their thinking.

Married to Melissa DeVos, Rick is also a competitive sailor, licensed fixed-wing and helicopter pilot and frequent commentator on Twitter (@RickDeVos).