Entries open for Rice Business Plan Competition

The focus areas of this opportunity are about the Rice Business Plan Competition being the world’s richest and largest graduate-level student startup competition, hosted and organized by the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship and the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University, the Rice Alliance being Rice University’s internationally-recognized initiative devoted to the support of entrepreneurship, this being the 25th year of the competition which has grown from nine teams competing for $10,000 in prize money in 2001 to 42 teams from around the world competing for more than $1.5 million in cash and prizes, the competition being designed to give collegiate entrepreneurs a real-world experience to pitch their startups to investors, receive mentoring, network.

The entrepreneurial ecosystem, enhance their startup strategy and learn what it takes to launch a successful startup, alumni from the RBPC having raised more than $6.9 billion in funding and generated more than 66 successful exits valued at over $7 billion dollars, the provision of an intense immersive experience over the course of three days for student startup founders to pitch to investors receive multiple rounds of feedback and advance their startup, the guarantee that all 42 teams who compete at Rice University in Houston will win cash prizes with the minimum prize currently being $950 and the grand prize winner receiving a $150,000 investment typically in the form of a convertible debt note, and the eligibility requirements that a startup must have at least two current student founders or management team members with at least one being a current graduate degree-seeking student, must be student-driven student-created and/or student-managed, must fall into one of five sectors, must not have raised more than $250,000 in equity capital prior to July 1 2025, must not have generated revenue of more than $100,000 in any 12-month period prior to July 1 2025, and must be seeking funding or capital within the next 12 months and be a potentially viable investment opportunity.

The Rice Business Plan Competition provides an immersive three-day environment where student founders engage directly with investors, mentors and experts from diverse sectors. Participants gain insights into real-world startup dynamics while refining their business strategy. The program is structured to expose startups to intensive feedback cycles that help strengthen their pitch, business model and investor readiness. With every selected team guaranteed prize money, the competition ensures strong value for all participating ventures.

Startups accepted into the program also benefit from access to a powerful entrepreneurial ecosystem. Finalists join a long-standing network of more than two decades of RBPC participants whose ventures have gone on to raise billions in investment and achieve notable exits. The competition serves as a launch pad for early-stage companies seeking credibility, exposure and support from active investors. The significant cash and investment prizes further enhance the opportunity for startups aiming to accelerate their growth.

Eligibility for the RBPC is clearly defined to ensure that the competition remains focused on student-led ventures with genuine innovation potential. Startups must be driven and managed by current students and must demonstrate that they are in the early stages of development, with limited prior external funding and revenue. Those applying should also be pursuing investment or planning to do so soon, ensuring alignment with the competition’s focus on investor-ready businesses.

For more information, visit Rice Alliance for Technology & Entrepreneurship.