Call For Applications: Rice University Business Plan Graduate-level Student Startup Competition 2025 (Up to $1.6 million in Cash and Prizes)
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.
Eligibility
You are initially eligible for RBPC 2025 if your startup:
- is student-driven, student-created and/or student-managed
- has 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
- has not raised more than $250,000 in equity capital prior to July 1, 2024
- has not generated revenue of more than $100,000 in any 12-month period prior to July 1, 2024
- is seeking funding or capital (or will be in the next 12 months)
- is a potentially viable investment opportunity
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2025 Competition Sectors
- Energy, Cleantech and Sustainability
- Hard Tech
- Life Sciences and Healthcare Solutions
- Digital Enterprise
- Consumer Products and Services
Prizes:
Prizes for Placement in Competition
- 1st Place Overall – given by the GOOSE Capital – $150,000 investment
- 2nd Place Overall – given by Rice University – $100,000 investment
- 3rd Place Overall – given by Rice University $50,000 investment
- 4th – 7th Place Overall – $5,000 cash each
- Semi-Final Round Prizes
- Wildcard Round Prizes
- Mercury Elevator Pitch Competition Prizes $3,500 divided among winners
- Anbarci Family Company Showcase Prize – $5,000 cash
Individual Prizes (cash, equity-free)
- Pearland Economic Development Corporation (EDC) Spirit of Entrepreneurship Prize $40,000 cash
- Pediatric Device Prize by the Southwest National Pediatric Device Innovation Consortium (SWPDC) – $25,000 cash
- Jacobs – Rising Stars Space Technology and Commercial Aerospace Prize – $25,000 cash
- NOV Energy Technology Innovation Prize – $25,000 Cash
- Entrepreneur Futures Network (EFN) Mentor Cash Prize – $1,500
Individual Prizes (investment)
- Goose Capital Investment Prize – $200,000 Investment
- The OWL Investment Prize – $100k+ Investment
- Houston Angel Network (HAN) Investment Prize – $100,000 investment
- The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) Angels Texas Investment Prize – $100,000 investment
- New Climate Ventures Sustainable Investment Prize – $25,000 Investment
- nCourage Courageous Women Entrepreneur Prize – $25,000 investment
- Dream Big Ventures Latino Entrepreneur Investment Prize – $25,000 Investment
- UCN Diversity Award in Partnership with South Loop Venture – $25,000 Investment
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Individual Prizes (In-kind)
- TMC Innovation Healthcare Accelerator Bootcamp Invite
- Baker Botts In-Kind Legal Services Prize – $75,000 in kind for three top startups
- Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Prize
- LSA Global/Latinx Startup Alliance Advisory Services for the Top Latino-led Startup(s)
- New York Technology Capital Partners CFO Consulting Prize
Prizes for All Competitors (in-kind)
- EFN Mentoring In-kind for all competitors
- Amazon Web Services In-kind for all competitors
Application Timeline:
| January 27, 2025 | 11:59 PM CST – Applications close; deadline to submit applications |
| February 18, 2025 | Noon CST – 42 teams invited to participate via video live stream, social media, emails and phone calls |
| February 24, 2025 | 5:00 PM CST – Invited teams confirm commitment to compete via written confirmation on application and last day to withdraw without penalty |
Deadline: January 27, 2025