News

Rice has a new resource for entrepreneurs: BlueLaunch, the Rice University accelerator for consumer product companies and other small businesses.

BlueLaunch, the latest initiative from the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship, provides hands-on training and mentoring designed to support the success of Rice-affiliated small-business entrepreneurs in any industry. Companies accepted into the accelerator have access to legal, financial, sales and marketing resources as well as mentorship from an invaluable professional network.

This week, 39 energy startup companies from all over the world pitched in Houston — and nine were recognized as being the most promising of the batch.

The Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship returned its Offshore Technology Conference pitch event to its in-person capacity and host the annual event at the Ion Houston for the first time. The event featured three-minute pitches from the companies, and a select group of corporate and venture investors decided on the top nine to honor.

he Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship and the Jones Graduate School of Business have announced the 42 student teams that will compete in the 2022 Rice Business Plan Competition, which returns to an in-person format on the Rice University campus in April.

HOUSTON – (Nov. 16, 2021) – Rice Business is ranked the No. 1 graduate entrepreneurship program in the United States for 2022 by the Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine. This is Rice Business’ third No. 1 ranking in a row, its sixth year in the top three and the 13th year in which it has ranked in the top 10 on this prestigious list.

SeebeckCell Technologies, a startup in the first class of the Rice Alliance Clean Energy Accelerator, today announced they are invited to participate in the Chevron Technology Ventures (CTV) Catalyst Program to develop further their technology platform designed to recover industrial waste heat energy, increasing energy consumption efficiency, and eliminating battery replacement in IoT applications.

Rice Business moves up 12 spots to #3 this year for Best MBA Programs for Entrepreneurship by Poets & Quants: The Jones School itself is less than three decades old. But entrepreneurship was baked into its DNA from the get-go.

The Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University is ranked No. 3 in Poets & Quants’ World’s Best MBA Programs for Entrepreneurship rankings for 2022, up from No. 15 on the 2021 list. Poets & Quants created the annual rankings with Inc. Magazine to measure schools' performance in providing launching pads for entrepreneurial-minded MBA students. 

A dozen startups will pitch their clean energy technologies to investors and industry leaders this week as a virtual Demo Day concludes the inaugural class of the Rice Alliance Clean Energy Accelerator. Read more in the Rice University press release. 

The Rice Alliance Energy Venture Day at this year’s Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) features 14 promising energy companies — which combined have raised more than $108 million — presenting their business pitches to key industry investors and leaders.

Rice University selected 12 early-stage clean energy startups to help accelerate over the summer — and the new program kicks off later this month.

An application that allows convenience store owners to remotely manage and monitor their businesses from their smartphones took home the grand prize during the 2021...

Three events during this week’s Rice Business Plan Competition (RBPC) — the world’s largest and richest student startup competition — will be livestreamed. Hosted by...

Applications to join the first Rice Alliance Clean Energy Accelerator cohort are open to early-stage clean energy startups. The Rice Alliance Clean Energy Accelerator — located in...

World’s largest, richest student startup competition reveals participants Friday The Rice Business Plan Competition — the world’s largest and richest student startup competition — will...

Rice and its Jones Graduate School of Business have the No. 1 graduate entrepreneurship program in the U.S., according to the 2021 rankings announced Nov. 17 by the Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine. This marks the second consecutive year the Rice program has topped this category, its fifth time in a top 3 position nationally and the 12th year in a row ranked in the top 10.

Life science investors, leaders and innovators from around the world gathered virtually to discuss the pandemic, medical technology and the future of the industry at...

The 2020 Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers conference brought together the largest number of attendees in the annual event’s 24-year history to award 17 university...

The Ion, the innovation and startup hub being developed in Midtown Houston by Rice University, has received a grant for $1.5 million from the Economic...

The Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship has announced its new Clean Energy Accelerator — a 12-week program for early stage energy startups — at the close of the 18th annual Energy Tech Venture Forum.

"Houston truly is the hub of the global energy industry, and it is here where the next generation of energy leaders will create and scale innovations that will change the world," says Bob Harvey, president and CEO at the Greater Houston Partnership, in a press release. "The new Clean Energy Accelerator will build on that legacy and align with the work already taking place in Houston's robust energy innovation ecosystem."

Rice Alliance, the globally recognized initiative within the Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University, will expand its programs to help startup enterprises with the launch of the Clean Energy Accelerator.

The accelerator will be a hands-on, 12-week program to support early stage energy startups from around the world, all of which will have access to the Rice Alliance network of energy corporations, investors and advisers. Rice Alliance will leverage existing relationships with energy corporations and investors, as well as its experiences from the Rice Business Plan Competition, energy tech venture forums and the Rice University OwlSpark accelerator.

For the 20th year, the Rice Business Plan Competition has awarded prizes and investments to student-led startups from around the ward. While this year's competition was postponed and virtually held, the show went on with 42 startups pitching virtually June 17 to 19.

After whittling down the 42 startups to seven finalists, the RBPC judges named the winners. And, this year, all seven finalists walked away with a monetary prize. Here's how the finalists cleaned up.

Aurign, which provides publishing services for recording artists and record labels, from Georgia State University, won first place and the $350,000 grand prize from GOOSE Capital. Aurign also won RG Advisory Partners' prize of $25,000, bringing the company's total to $375,000 won.

An Atlanta-based startup that combines music publishing with blockchain technology won the 20th Rice Business Plan Competition, a three-day event that was postponed and held virtually this week due to the coronavirus pandemic. Aurign, a startup out of Georgia State University, won a $350,000 investment, which could increase as it works with Goose Capital, a Texas investment firm. It was one of seven finalists that competed Friday. 

The Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship’s annual Energy Tech Venture Day, which is usually part of the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston each May but moved to a virtual format this year.

Energy Tech Venture Day still on for May 7 Companies to present their pitches...

The Rice Business Plan Competition, the world’s richest and largest student venture competition, had six of its recent alumni startups featured on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for 2020, an annual compilation of the most innovative and exciting young entrepreneurs in the United States and Canada.

The Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship, one of the country’s premier initiatives devoted to the support of technology commercialization, entrepreneurship education and the launch of technology companies, hosted a special event Dec. 5 to unveil its new offices, the 3,000-square-foot Bill and Stephanie Sick Suite.

Eleven universities with leading-edge entrepreneurship programs, along with 19 finalists, were recognized for their outstanding programs at the 2019 Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers (GCEC) conference in Stockholm. The Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship and Rice's Jones Graduate School of Business serve as the central office for the GCEC organization.

Rice and its Jones Graduate School of Business have the No. 1 graduate entrepreneurship program in the U.S., according to the 2020 rankings announced Nov. 12 by the Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine. This marks the first time the Rice program has topped this category, its fourth time in a top 3 position nationally and the 11th year in a row the school has been ranked in the top 10.

Ultrafast battery charging and a method to stop oil spills from spreading are among the technological advances touted by new companies honored this year at the largest energy tech venture capital conference in the U.S.

Rice's Liu Idea Lab for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Lilie) and the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship successfully held the first campuswide entrepreneurship event Sept. 4 to bring the university’s entrepreneurship community together in one place.

After 12 weeks of refining their business models and building their companies as part of an annual startup accelerator program, teams from Rice’s OwlSpark and the University of Houston’s RED Labs pitched their innovations at the Bayou Startup Showcase held Aug. 1 at The Cannon and Bayou City Fellowship campus.

The winner of the 2019 Rice University Business Plan Competition will ring Nasdaq’s opening bell on the day before Independence Day. Vita Inclinata Technologies from the Mitchell Hamline School of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota will perform the ceremonial opening of the Nasdaq Stock Market trading day at 9:30 a.m. CDT on Wednesday, July 3.

Rice University’s OwlSpark and the University of Houston’s RED Labs will launch their annual joint startup accelerator program on May 16. The startups, whose offerings range from medical devices to consumer apps and enterprise software, will attend the 12-week program at Station Houston, an accelerator hub for startup technology companies, corporate innovation and entrepreneurship.

Ten companies were recognized as "most promising" at the 2019 Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship's Startup Roundup May 6 at the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston.

From oil and gas and space exploration to the largest medical center in the world, Houston has long been a capital for innovation. Mayor Sylvester Turner spoke at Rice's Jones Graduate School of Business April 17 about his vision for the city as one of the leading centers of innovation and entrepreneurship, driving economic development and jobs over the next decade.