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Largest intercollegiate student startup competition announces 2023 teams

by Avery Ruxer Franklin

Graduate student-led ventures from around the world will compete for more than $1 million in prizes at Rice Business Plan Competition

The 2023 Rice Business Plan Competition (RBPC), hosted by the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship and the Jones Graduate School of Business, will be held on Rice University campus May 11-13. The competition brings together the most promising student ventures from top universities across the world to compete for prizes in front of active investors, entrepreneurs and the Houston business community.

This year’s startups represent 37 universities from six countries and were chosen from a competitive applicant pool. With a goal of not only competing for cash but also understanding what it takes to secure investment, raise awareness and launch a successful venture, these graduate students will pitch their companies through four rounds and three days of competition in hopes of taking home the grand prize.

The largest number of Rice student startups to-date participated in the RBPC qualifier in hopes of securing the coveted spot to represent the university on the global stage. Rice Alliance awarded a total of $5,000 in cash prizes to the top three teams from the internal qualifier: Sygne Solutions, Neurnano Therapeutics and Tierra Climate, who will represent Rice at the competition.

The RBPC seeks startups that are building solutions with high investment potential. This year’s entries will compete in five categories: energy, cleantech and sustainability; life science and health care solutions; consumer products and services; hard tech; and digital enterprise.

The 2023 startups join a successful group of RBPC alumni. Over the 22 years of the competition, 784 competitors have raised more than $4.6 billion in capital, with more than 50 successful exits and five public companies.

2023 Rice Business Plan Competition invitees:

  • Active Surfaces, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Adrigo Insights, Saint Mary’s University (Canada)
  • AirSeal, Washington University in St. Louis
  • Algbio, Yeditepe University (Turkey)
  • Arch Pet Food, University of Chicago
  • Astria Biosciences, University of Pittsburgh
  • Atma Leather, Yale University
  • Atop, UCLA
  • Biome Future, University of Florida
  • BioSens8, Boston University
  • BlueVerse, Texas Tech University
  • Boardible, Northwestern University
  • Boston Quantum, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • ceres plant protein cereal, Tulane University
  • Citrimer, University of Michigan
  • Dart Bioscience, University of Oxford (United Kingdom)
  • DetoXyFi, Harvard University
  • E-Sentience, Duke University
  • Edulis Therapeutics, Carnegie Mellon University
  • FluxWorks, Texas A&M University
  • Integrated Molecular Innovations, Michigan Technological University
  • Inzipio, RWTH Aachen University (Germany)
  • LoopX AI, University of Waterloo (Canada)
  • Magnify Biosciences, Carnegie Mellon University
  • MiraHeart, Johns Hopkins University
  • MyLÚA, Cornell University
  • Outmore Living, University of Texas
  • Pathways, Harvard University
  • Pediatrica Therapeutics, University of Arkansas
  • Perseus Materials, Stanford University
  • Pike Robotics, University of Texas
  • Quantanx, Arizona State University
  • Sheza, San Diego State University
  • Skali, Northwestern University
  • Sundial Solar Components, University of Utah
  • Thryft Ship, University of Georgia
  • Tierra Climate, Rice University
  • TrashTrap Sustainability Solutions, Visvesvaraya Technological University (India)
  • Unchained, North Carolina A&T State University
  • Unsmudgeable, Babson College
  • Vivicaly, University of Pennsylvania
  • Zaymo, Brigham Young University

For more information about the 2023 Rice Business Plan Competition, visit rbpc.rice.edu.

 

 

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“NASA funded us to develop a gearbox for the next-generation Lunar Rover to go to the dark side of the moon,” said Dr. Bryton Praslicka, CEO of FluxWorks.  The company took home the grand prize at the 2023 Rice Business Plan Competition.