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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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. 

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.