Applications open for Rice Business Plan Competition 2025

Deadline: 10 January 2025

The Rice Business Plan Competition is designed to give collegiate entrepreneurs a real-world experience to pitch their startups to investors, receive mentoring, network with the entrepreneurial ecosystem, enhance their startup strategy, and learn what it takes to launch a successful startup.

Hosted and organized by the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship—which is Rice University’s internationally-recognized initiative devoted to the support of entrepreneurship—and Rice Business.

Categories

Energy/Cleantech/Sustainability (including but not limited to): Agriculture/Agtech, Batteries & Storage, Decarbonization/Climate Tech, Energy Infrastructure, Oil & Gas Technologies, Renewable/Alternative Energy, Recycling, New and Non-Carbon Fuels, Transportation/Electric Vehicles, Water
Hard Tech (including but not limited to): Advanced Manufacturing, Advanced Materials, Aerospace/Spacetech, AR & VR (augmented & virtual reality), Autonomous Vehicles, Drones, Machine Learning and AI (Artificial Intelligence), Quantum Computing, Robotics, Smart Sensors
Life Sciences & Healthcare Solutions (including but not limited to): Aging/Gerontology, Biotech, Diagnostics, Digital Health, Disease Management, Public Health, Medical Devices, Personalized Medicine, Pharma & Therapeutics, Prevention
Digital Enterprise (including but not limited to): Big Data, Blockchain, Cyber/IoT Security, Cloud & Edge Computing, Enterprise Software, Fintech, Media & Advertising, SportsTech, Supply Chain/Logistics, Workforce
Consumer Products & Services (including but not limited to): Analytics, Consumer Web, Education/EdTech, Food & Drink, Gaming, Mobile, Personal Devices, Social Impact, Subscription Services, Wearables & Clothing.

Benefits

They provide an intense, immersive experience over the course three days for student startup founders to pitch to investors, receive multiple rounds of feedback and advance their startup. There will be over $1.5 million in prizes, and all 42 teams who compete at Rice University in Houston are guaranteed to win cash prizes. Currently, the minimum cash prize is $800 and the grand prize winner receives a $150,000 investment (typically in the form of a convertible debt note).

Eligibility Criteria

Your startup/venture/team must meet all the eligibility requirements in order to be selected to compete. Please confirm that you meet the following criteria before applying:
- Criteria: Has at least two current university student founders or management team members, and at least one of those students is a current graduate degree-seeking student
- Team Composition: The startups competing at Rice must include at least two current college/university students:
  - One of these students must be a current or recently-graduated graduate-level student. This includes MBA, PhD, MD (up to but not including residency), JD, and Master’s candidates.
  - The other student may be at any stage of their university academic program (graduate or undergraduate).
  - Dual degree programs, such as a 5-year program that results in a graduate degree, are allowed.
  - “Current” means currently seeking a degree, enrolled on a full- or part-time basis (i.e., in the academic year from July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025).
  - “Recently graduated” means students who will graduate any time after August 1, 2024. (For example, December 2024 graduates are eligible to compete).
  - Teams may be comprised of students from different schools
  - Startups from any university in the world can apply
- Criteria: Is student-driven, student-created and/or student-managed
- Student Involvement: The competition is for student-created and student-managed ventures, including new ventures launched by licensing university technology. Students participating in the competition (i.e. members of the founding startup) are expected to:
  - be a driving force behind the new venture
  - have played a primary role in developing the business strategy
  - have key management roles in the startup venture
  - own significant equity in the startup venture
  - hold a major position in the startup (CEO, COO, or President)
  - occupy 50% or more of the functional area management positions that report directly to the CEO, COO, or President
  - own equity in the venture–least 20% of the total equity in the venture or at least 50% of the equity owned by the management team. The idea is to exclude ventures formed and managed by non-students who have given little or no equity to students for helping to develop the business strategy or create an investor pitch deck.
  - If the equity structure of some new university-based ventures is not yet established, the 20% equity ownership rule may be waived. This waiver will be examined on a case-by-case basis.
- Criteria: Falls into one of five sectors.