RBPC 2019
Two teams of engineering students took home big checks for victories in the 2016 Owl Open, Rice’s student startup competition, Feb. 20. The Skylark Wireless team, above, earned $2,500 and automatic entry into this year’s Rice Business Plan Competition for winning the graduate student division.
Burke said there were many strong life sciences teams applying for this year's competition; 18 teams were accepted for the life sciences category, up from 12 last year. The other categories are information technology/Web/mobile; energy/clean technology/sustainability; and other.
"This competition can be, in some ways, life changing for the teams and the students who come here," Burke said.
Applications opened Dec. 2 for the 16th annual Rice Business Plan Competition (RBPC) at Rice’s Jones Graduate School of Business April 14-16. Forty-two teams from the world’s top universities will be selected from the applicants to vie for more than $1.5 million in prizes in the RBPC, which in November was named the No.
Business plan competitions are valuable opportunities for student entrepreneurs to put principles into practice. Competitors hone their pitches, network with investors and industry leaders, and can potentially win the startup cash and services they need to get their businesses off the ground.
As we shift from a resource-based economy to a market rooted in innovation, companies are increasingly looking to the startup ecosystem to remain competitive. It's no longer simply about trading on their cool factor; corporations want to gain a deep understanding of the culture of collaboration and partnership that drives startups' success.
