Rice Business Plan Competition for Graduate-level Student Startup from Rice University in the USA 2021

Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurship and the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University are offering the Rice Business Plan Competition (RBPC) for student startups at the graduate level. The 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.

Eligibility Criteria for Startups:

Your startup is eligible if you:

• are student-driven, student-created, and/or student-managed.
• 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.
• are from a college or university anywhere in the world.
• have not raised more than $250,000 in equity capital prior to July 1, 2020.
• have not generated more than $100,000 in revenue prior to July 1, 2020.
• are seeking funding or capital (or will be in the next 12 months).
• are a potentially viable investment opportunity.

Sectors:

Startups should fall into one of five categories or sectors:

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

Competition Rules:

• Up to 4 startup team members will be allowed to compete and present at the RBPC. All of those 4 team members must be current or recently-graduated students, and at least one of those students needs to be a graduate degree-seeking student.
• At least 2 startup team members must present in every round of the competition, with at least 2 of those members meeting the student requirements above, including one of them being a graduate degree-seeking student.
• Not eligible: Students who graduated before August 1, 2020.
• Not eligible: Startups that have competed in prior Rice Business Plan Competitions.
• Not eligible: Startups or technologies that previously presented or competed in the RBPC.

The competition is for student-created and student-managed ventures, including new ventures launched by licensing university technology. Students participating in the competition 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.
• occupy 50% or more of the functional area management positions that report directly to the CEO, COO, or President.
• own equity in the venture--at 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 in this situation. This waiver will be examined on a case-by-case basis.

Benefit:

RICE provides 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. There will be over $1.0 million in prizes, and all 42 startups that compete at Rice University in Houston are guaranteed to win cash prizes if the event is held in-person. The grand prize winner receives a $350,000 investment (typically in the form of a convertible debt note, without geographic restrictions) in both an in-person event and a remote/virtual event.

Important Dates:

• Tuesday, February 23, 2021, at 12:30 PM - RBPC announces 42 teams to compete via live video, email, and phone.
• Monday, March 1, 2021, by 5:00 PM - Invited teams confirm commitment to compete via written confirmation on the application, and last day to last day to withdraw without penalty.
• Monday, April 5 – Friday, April 9, 2021: 2021 RBPC opens: 42 student startups compete for more than $1 million at Rice University in Houston, Texas on remote/virtual

About Rice University:

William Marsh Rice University, commonly known as Rice University, is a private research university in Houston, Texas. It is situated on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and is adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Opened in 1912 after the murder of its namesake William Marsh Rice, Rice is a research university with an undergraduate focus. Its emphasis on education is demonstrated by a small student body and 6:1 student-faculty ratio. The university has a very high level of research activity, with $156 million in sponsored research funding in 2019. Rice is noted for its applied science programs in the fields of artificial heart research, structural chemical analysis, signal processing, space science, and nanotechnology. In 2010, it was ranked first in the world in materials science research by Times Higher Education (THE). Rice is a member of the Association of American Universities since 1985.

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