2015 Rice University Business Plan Competition (graduate-level student startup competition.) – $1.3 million in cash and prizes.

Application Deadline: Noon CST, Friday, February 27, 2015.

The Rice Business Plan Competition is the world’s richest and largest graduate-level student startup competition. It is hosted and organized by the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship, which is Rice University’s flagship initiative devoted to the support of entrepreneurship, and the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business. This is the 14th year for the competition. In that time, it has grown from nine teams competing for $10,000 in prize money in 2001, to 42 teams from around the world competing for more than $1.3 million in cash and prizes.

The competition is designed to give collegiate entrepreneurs a real-world experience to fine tune their business plans and elevator pitches to generate funding to successfully commercialize their product. Judges will evaluate the teams as real-world entrepreneurs soliciting start-up funds from early stage investors and venture capital firms. The judges are asked to rank the presentations based on which company they would most likely invest

Highlights of the Competition include:

Real-world opportunities to learn what’s required to successfully launch a new business

• Chance to receive mentoring from investors and experienced entrepreneurs
• Scheduled opportunities to network with potential venture capitalists and other investors for three days
• High caliber of judges, all senior level investors, entrepreneurs and industry leaders
• Opportunities to receive individual feedback during 3 separate sessions
• 2013: $1.5 Million + in prize money was awarded with all teams winning at least one cash award (2012 Prizes and Winners)

Eligibility:

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

Each team must meet the following requirements in order to compete in the 2015 RBPC:

Student Enrollment: The competition is for students currently enrolled on a full- or part-time basis (i.e., from July 2014 through June 2015).  This includes students who graduated, or will graduate in August through December 2014. Students who graduated in the preceding academic years are not eligible to participate.  Appropriate adjustments will be made for teams from non-US universities that have a different academic calendar.

Team Size: The presenting (competing) team should include at least two current students and not exceed five current students.  (At least two students must travel to Houston to compete and both must participate in the oral presentation of the business plan).

Prize Award:

Finalist Prizes:

Grand Prize (1st Place Team):

Total Grand Prize Value: $641,600
$300,000 GOOSE Society Equity Investment Prize
$100,000 OWL Investment Prize
$100,000 Opportunity Houston / GHP Investment Prize*
(must be technology or life science team)
$20,000 Cash from Shell
$121,600+ In-kind Awards
+ One year of Incubation Services at the Houston Technology Center and one
year of computing support provided by 1-service ($35,000 value)
+ ERP/CRM Business Application Software and Support from PKF Texas
($25,000 value)
+ Branding Design & Marketing Communications from BrandExtract and The
Padgett Group ($25,000 value) + One year of free website development from ContentActive ($25,000 value) + Treasury Services from Bank of America ($5,000 value)
+ Business Mentoring from Silver Fox Advisors ($3,600 value)
+ Roundtrip tickets on United Airlines ($3,000 value)
+ Ring NASDAQ bell in NYC
+ Automatic entry into 2011 Venture Lab Investment Competition
(criteria to be met)

Second Place Team:
Total Prize Value: $154,100
$15,000 Cash
$100,000 Opportunity Houston / GHP Investment Prize
(awarded to the top technology or life science team*)
$39,100 In-kind Awards + One year of Incubation Services at the Houston Technology Center and one
year of computing support provided by 1-service ($35,000 value)
+ Business Mentoring from Silver Fox Advisors ($3,600 value)
+ Plug & Play Services from 1-service.com ($500 value)

Third Place Team:
$7,500 Cash + $4,100 In-kind Awards

+ Business Mentoring from Silver Fox Advisors ($3,600 value)
+ Plug & Play Services from 1-service.com ($500 value)

Fourth Place Team:    $5,000 Cash + $500 In-kind Awards
+ Plug & Play Services from 1-service.com ($500 value)
Fifth Place Team:
$4,000 Cash + $500 In-kind Awards
+ Plug & Play Services from 1-service.com ($500 value)

Sixth Place:      $3,000 Cash + $500 In-kind Awards
+ Plug & Play Services from 1-service.com ($500 value)

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the RICE Business Plan Competition