Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

Can you answer “yes” to the following questions:

1. Is your start-up student-driven, student-created, and/or student-managed?
2. Does it have at least two current student founders or management team members and at least one of those students is a current graduate degree-seeking student?
3. Are from a college or university anywhere in the world?
4. Has your start-up not raised more than $250,000 in equity capital prior to July 1, 2024?
5. Has your company not generated revenue of more than $100,000 in any 12-month period prior to July 1, 2024?
6. Is your start-up seeking funding or capital (or will be in the next 12 months)?
7. Is the company a potentially viable investment opportunity?

If you answered “yes” to all of these, you are probably eligible for the 2025 Rice Business Plan Competition with the application deadline set for January 27. There are five focus areas:

1. Energy, Cleantech, and 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, and Water.
2. 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, and Smart Sensors.
3. Life Sciences and Healthcare Solutions, including but not limited to: Aging/Gerontology, Biotech, Diagnostics, Digital Health, Disease Management, Public Health, Medical Devices, Personalized Medicine, Pharma & Therapeutics, and Prevention.
4. 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, and Workforce.
5. Consumer Products and Services, including but not limited to: Analytics, Consumer Web, Education/EdTech, Food & Drink, Gaming, Mobile, Personal Devices, Social Impact, Subscription Services, and Wearables & Clothing.

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. Over 23 years it has grown from nine teams competing for $10,000 in prize money in 2001, to 42 teams from around the world competing for about $1.5 million in cash and prizes. It is the largest and richest student start-up competition in the world with the winner receiving a $150,000 prize.

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