Start Garden invests in crepe bike cart for downtown and baby teether

Start Garden invests in crepe bike cart for downtown and baby teether

A crêpe is as a very thin, light and delicate pancake that’s often rolled or folded around a filling. Photo via fb.com

Teething babies and a crêpe bike cart are both getting help from Start Garden.

Rick DeVos’ $15 million seed fund put a total of $10,000 into two more ideas this week.

The Start Garden team put $5,000 into Nawgum, an “all-in-one” device for teething babies that was designed using a variety of textures to soothe oral development in children up to two years old. The silicon material in the product allows the child to find the right amount of pain relief during teething.

Nawgum is meant to be the first in a series of products to be launched by Mello & Co., a holding company that will produce and distribute a number of children’s items.

“Along with the purposely created design, the FDA compliant, non-porous seamless silicon grade offers a safe feeling to the parent/caregiver,” wrote idea creator Sue Kellogg on her Start Garden page. “This BPA-free material also allows for easy cleaning and dishwasher sterilization.”

Start Garden web endorsements put $5,000 into Velocity Crêpes, an idea to create a crêpes bike cart for serving downtown Grand Rapids.

Using a vacuum pack cooking process, the mobile vendor would be able to serve more than 100 crêpes an hour, feeding Grand Rapids foot traffic during major events like ArtPrize.

“There are no mobile crêpe businesses in Grand Rapids, though they do exist in Chicago and New York City,” wrote idea creator Chris Owen on his Start Garden page. “Mobile vending is growing, and we are filling a void in the GR market with an innovative cooking process and the only crêpe-specific café around. Our eyes are set on rapid expansion with investors in other markets.”

Start Garden’s next Update Night is Jan. 24.