The 20th edition of the world’s richest and largest graduate-level student startup competition 2020 is ongoing – The Rice Business Plan Competition. This is an opportunity for entrepreneurs to gain real-world experience, fine tune their business plan and elevator pitches so, they can access funds for their businesses.
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The competition is organised by the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship and it’s Rice University’s internationally recognised initiative. The competition is devoted to the support of entrepreneurship and the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business.
Rice Alliance was formed as a strategic alliance of three schools: the George R. Brown School of Engineering, the Wiess School of Natural Sciences and the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business in collaboration with the vice provost and the office of Research.
Its goal is to provide the best overall educational and entrepreneurial experience of any business plan/new venture competition. The competition has grown from nine teams competing for $10,000 in prize money in 2001 to 42 teams currently competing for over $1.5 million in cash and prizes.
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At Entrepreneurs.ng, our goal is to inform, inspire, educate and support entrepreneurs with timely information they need to succeed. Therefore, if you are a graduate-level student or student invested in entrepreneurship, this is an opportunity for you to grow your business.
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Opportunities From Rice Business Plan Competition
Participating in this competition will avail you;
- Access to opportunities to learn how to successfully launch a new business.
- Network with potential venture capitalists and other investors in the course of the program
- Receive mentoring from investors and experienced entrepreneurs
- Meet with high-caliber, experienced judges who are also senior level investors, entrepreneurs and leaders in different industries.
- Get Personalized feedback in three different sessions and on business plan before the actual date of competition.
- Generate funds to successfully commercialise your products.
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Eligibility Status
This opportunity is for graduate students in a broad range of industries from different universities. The most important criteria is that the start-up must be student driven, student created and student managed. Also, you qualify if your start-up has not raised more than $250,000 in equity capital prior to July 1, 2019
Your niche should also fall into any of these categories;
- Energy/Cleantech/Sustainability
- Life Science/Digital Health/Medical Devices
- Tech/Digital/IoT e.t.c
- Other Innovations
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Panel Of Judges
The Judges comprise of investors, CEOs and entrepreneurs from different sectors. Generally, the competition is designed with diverse program for the period of three-days, with significant time for constructive feedbacks and interaction with the judging panel.
The judges will;
- Evaluate the team as real-world entrepreneurs soliciting funds and venture capital firms.
- Rank the presentations based on which company would be preferable to invest on.
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Rice Business Plan Competition Deadline
The deadline for application submission for the Rice Business Plan Competition is on Monday January 27, 2020. It will run from March 26-28 2020 at the Rice University in Houston,Texas.
Summarily, over $1.5 million in investment and cash prizes will be awarded to the teams. Also, all 42 teams that compete will definitely receive a prize.
How To Apply
Your application will be done online. You start by answering a 20-question survey about your team. Next, you upload a 2-5 page Executive Summary in PDF format and finally, you submit an optional 60-120 second video pitch.
For more information about the competition and how to apply, please visit here.
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