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Opportunity Houston(SM) Donates $200,000 in Prize Money to Rice Business Plan Competition Awards
HOUSTON-(Business Wire)-February 19, 2008 - The Rice University Business Plan Competition (RBPC) has increased its 2008 competition prize money by $200,000 thanks to funding provided by Opportunity Houston(SM), an aggressive five-year marketing program of the Greater Houston Partnership that will generate leads for economic development organizations throughout Houston's 10-county region. The two new $100,000 awards elevate total prizes to more than $600,000 for the April 3-5 competition hosted by the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship and the Jones Graduate School of Management.
"This generous prize money solidifies RBPC's status as the largest and richest intercollegiate business plan competition in the world for the fourth year running with more than $600,000 in awards," said Brad Burke, managing director of the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship. "Opportunity Houston(SM)'s involvement will help attract the most promising emerging technology companies to the Rice Business Plan Competition and help establish Houston as a leader in technology entrepreneurship."
One new $100,000 prize will be awarded to the company with the best life science technology business plan. The second $100,000 prize will go to the graduate student team with the top business plan in one of the following four economic sectors: energy and petrochemicals, information technology, aviation and aerospace or nanotechnology. These awards will provide seed funding to launch these companies in the Houston region.
"The Competition has established itself as the premier intercollegiate competition in the world," said Tracye McDaniel, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Greater Houston Partnership. "The talent and business sectors it attracts support our mission to build Houston business, attract capital investment, create jobs and generate foreign trade."
The Competition has a track record of supporting successful companies. Examples include OrthoAccel, which moved it headquarters from Chicago to Houston after it was acquired by a judge at the 2006 Rice Business Plan Competition. OrthoAccel is developing a revolutionary orthodontia device to cut the treatment time in half for braces. ClearCount Medical Solutions, the winner of the 2004 Rice Business Plan Competition, received FDA approval last year to market their RFID technology to track surgical sponges. ClearCount received angel funding from Houston investors after competing at Rice.
The 2008 Rice Business Plan Competition is open to graduate student teams from any university. With these new cash awards, the competition has nearly doubled its prizes from $345,000 in 2007 to more than $600,000 in 2008, fortifying its position as the largest and richest intercollegiate MBA/graduate level business plan competition in the world. Thirty-six teams from the world's top graduate schools will present in front of more than 160 venture capitalists, angel investors, successful entrepreneurs, and other business leaders. In addition to prizes, teams have the opportunity to receive valuable feedback and mentoring during the competition. The winners will be announced at the Awards Banquet on Saturday, April 5, at the Intercontinental Hotel. All events during the three days are open to the general public.
About the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship
The Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship (Rice Alliance) is Rice University's flagship initiative devoted to the support of technology entrepreneurship. The Rice Alliance is a strategic alliance among the Brown School of Engineering, the Jones Graduate School of Management and the Wiess School of Natural Sciences.
Since its inception in late 1999, the Rice Alliance has assisted in the launch of more than 210 new technology companies, which have raised more than $300 million in early stage funding. Of these, approximately 20 companies have been launched based upon technology developed by Rice faculty and researchers and licensed from the Rice Office of Technology Transfer.
In October 2007, the Rice Alliance was recognized as the leading university entrepreneurship center in the U.S. for the creation of successful new enterprises by the National Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers (NCEC). The mission of the Rice Alliance is to support the creation of technology-based companies and the commercialization of new technologies. The organization provides entrepreneurs with a collaborative network and forum for support, education and exchange of ideas. It offers entrepreneurs access to the human and financial capital needed for success.
About Greater Houston Partnership and Opportunity Houston(SM)
The Greater Houston Partnership, through its membership, represents the 10-county Houston region's business interests to promote the growth of high-paying jobs, international trade and capital investment. Partnership members include representatives of small and mid-sized businesses and Fortune 500 companies. The organization's board of directors oversees corporations that directly account for one in every 12 of the Houston metropolitan area's more than 2.5 million jobs. These corporations also represent annual sales and receipts that, when combined, exceed $1.9 trillion.
A direct result of the Partnership's 10-year Strategic Plan, Opportunity Houston(SM) is the $40 million fundraising vehicle by which the organization will help grow jobs by 600,000, increase capital investment by $60 billion and expand foreign trade by $120 billion for the Houston region. The program targets five major economic sectors as identified by The Perryman Group as critical to the region's future prosperity: aviation and aerospace, energy and petrochemical, medical and biotechnology, information technology and nanotechnology.
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