Startup Successes
Help us celebrate some of the startups that have participated in Rice Alliance programs as they reached exciting milestones over the years! Check out the most recent highlights from our 2022 year!

Hyliion goes public on NYSE at market valuation above $2B and raises $600M in funding—the first RBPC to go public.
2015 RBPC
Third Place Winner

Arovia, led by Alexander Wesley (MBA ’16) and George Zhu (Rice ‘16), successfully launched their second Kickstarter Campaign to introduce their second product, the Splay, a 2-in-1 portable display + projector.
Class 3, Owlspark
2016 RBPC Competitor

Pumani (formerly InfantAir) joined the Global Innovation Exchange’s Million Lives Club by impacting the lives of 1 million babies.
2010 RBPC
Competitor

Ictero Medical Closes $6M Series A, Co-Led by S3 Ventures
Texas Life Science Forum, 2019 & 2020
2020 Most Promising

Criterion Energy Partners receives strategic investment from Patterson-UTI, and receives DOE grant supporting community-driven energy transition with Baytown.
Class 1
Rice Alliance Clean Energy Accelerator

Renewell Energy receives DOE grant.
Class 1
Rice Alliance Clean Energy Accelerator

Rice University bioprinting startup, Volumetric, was acquired by 3D Systems. Originating in the bioengineering labs at Rice, founders Jordon Miller, Ph.D. and Bagrat Grigoryan, Ph.D. created a bioprinting platform for whole organ replacement.
Southwest I-Corp, Fall 2015
Texas Life Science Forum Presenter, 2018 and 2019

Topl, founded by Christopher Georgen (Rice ’16), James Aman (Rice ’19), and Kim Raath (Rice ’20), closed a $3m seed funding round led by Mercury Fund with participation from GOOSE Capital, Chingona Ventures, Beni Venture Capital, Blue Collective, RevTech Ventures and Social Impact Capital. Topl builds blockchains that enable digital and sustainable transformation across value chains.
OwlSpark
Class 4

Every Shelter, led by Scott Austin Key (Rice ’15) and Sam Brisendine (Rice ‘14), designs, creates and delivers shelter products for those displaced by natural disasters and acts of war. Every Shelter won second place at Dubai’s International Humanitarian Hackathon.
OwlSpark
Class 1

Starling Medical (Formerly Dash), founded by Drew Hendricks (Rice ‘19), Sylvie Kalikoff (Rice ‘19) and Hannah McKinney (Rice ‘19), and now led by Alex Arevalos (Rice ‘17), won the Texas A&M New Ventures Competition with their novel approach to neurogenic bladder management.
Class 7, OwlSpark
Michael E. DeBakey Memorial Life Science Award Winner at 2020 TLSF

Data Gumbo closed a $7.7 Million Series B Funding Round and named to the 2020 CB Insights Blockchain 50.
2020, 2018, 2017 ETVF
Most Promising in 2018

Nimbic Systems, led by CEO Sean Self a Rice MBA alum, is acquired by Mizuho OSI to Expand into Helping Protect Surgical Sites from Airborne Particulates.
2012 Most Promising Company
Texas Life Science Forum

Calwave successfully commissioned open-water wave energy pilot.
2015 RBPC
2020 Energy Venture Forum

Medical Informatics led by Emma Fauss, CEO (PhD and RICE MBA '13), announced a partnership with Intel for the Scale to Serve Program to rapidly expand remote ICUs to 100 US hospitals.
2013 RBPC, Competitor
OwlSpark, Class 1

Syzygy Plasmonics Attracts Global Investors, Raises $23 Million Series B to Electrify Chemical Manufacturing
2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017 Energy Events
Most Promising 2019

Mission Secure Announces Series B Venture Funding to Further Advance Its Patented OT Cybersecurity Protection Platform
2018, 2019 Energy Presenter
2019 Most Promising Company

Tvardi Therapeutics raised $74 Million in Series B Financing to Advance Clinical Programs.
2020 Texas Life Science Forum
Most Promising Company

Recursion, co-founded by Rice electrical engineering alum, is Granted Orphan Drug Designation for REC-4881 for the Potential Treatment of Familial Adenomatous Polyposis, and Granted FDA Fast Track Designation for REC-2282 for the Potential Treatment of NF2-Mutated Meningiomas
2014 Texas Life Science Forum
Most Promising Company

BioAesthetics announced a $5M Series A to Commercialize NACgraft, a Regenerative Nipple Graft for Breast Cancer Survivors
2018 Texas Life Science Forum Most Promising Company
2016 RBPC Competitor

Houston health tech startup, Koda Health, received a $256,000 grant to test its product.
2020 Texas Life Science Forum
Most Promising Company

Membrion raises $3M for wastewater treatment tech and plans to double size of Seattle facility.
Life Science Forum
Presenter

Houston-baed Cemvita Factory Inc. announced its initial closing of Series A, led by 8090 Partners, to accelerate industrial decarbonization.
2020 Life Science Forum
Presenter

Everactive Raises Oversubscribed $35 Million Series C Financing to Accelerate Growth of Batteryless Pervasive Remote Monitoring for Industry 4.0.
2019 Energy Tech Venture Forum
Presenting Company
If you have participated in a Rice Alliance program and have exciting news to share, please reach out to us so we can highlight your success!