Mike DeVries

Mike holds an MBA from Grand Valley State University and a BA from Calvin College.

Mike is the Chief Investment Officer at Wakestream Ventures, the venture arm spun out of the Start Garden accelerator in 2016. With 30 years of startup experience in both operating and investing in early-stage companies, Mike brings a valuable perspective in guiding startups through the process of capitalizing and growing their businesses. Wakestream Ventures and Start Garden are located in Michigan, and established an accelerator to help grow their portfolio companies. 

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Mike is also a Managing Director with EDF Ventures, a firm that focuses on young companies developing breakthrough technologies to address large, well recognized problems and transform existing markets. Mike sits on the boards of CardioMetrix and Direct Flow Medical. 

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Before joining EDF, Mike served as President and CEO of A-Med Systems, a California-based cardiac device company. Prior to A-Med, Mike was Director of Ventures/Cardiac Surgery with Medtronic, a developer of technologies to treat heart disease, neurological disorders and vascular illnesses. Mike's background also includes serving on the management team at DLP, a Michigan-based cardiac device company which was acquired by Medtronic.

Mike served his fellowship at EDF Ventures under mentor Mary Campbell as a member of Fellows Class 9. He now serves as a mentor to Mee-Jung Jang (Class 21).