Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship

As 2024 wraps up, we’re reflecting on a year of incredible milestones and growth. From groundbreaking startup successes to launching exciting new programs with the Ion, it’s been a year to remember. Thank you to the Rice Alliance community and beyond for your continued support! Here’s to even bigger things in 2025—more innovation, more collaboration and more impact. Want to dive deeper into our year? Check out the Rice Alliance Year-in-Review for a look back at all the highlights. If you missed our newsletter, make sure to sign up! https://lnkd.in/g6XPSW-z.

Exciting news! Your journey to making a global impact has just been extended. The application for the TEX-E Prize at CERAWeek 2025 remains open until Monday, February 24, 2025! Apply > https://lnkd.in/gSXMEd2Y Don't just participate—lead the charge in advancing the energy transition. The TEX-E Prize is part of the Energy Venture Day and Pitch Competition at #CERAWeek, co-hosted with Houston Energy Transition Initiative (HETI) and the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship. #CERAWeek #Energy #competition #HETI #RiceAlliance #TEX-E

Are you an academic STEM researcher looking to turn your breakthrough innovation into real-world impact? Are you an industry expert with an interest in mentoring a team through an NSF I-Corps program? Join the NSF I-Corps Hub: Southwest for a virtual NSF I-Corps Info Session on Feb. 20th to learn how this program provides entrepreneurial training, expert mentoring, and up to $50K in funding to validate your technology’s commercial potential. Led by NSF Instructor Kerri Smith, this interactive session is perfect for grad students, postdocs, research faculty, and industry mentors. Apply anytime—but early applicants get customized support from the Rice Alliance! Register now: https://lnkd.in/g2hyrc3D.

The Innovation & AI Summit at Ion Houston was an incredible gathering of over 400 founders, community experts, industry executives, and leaders—coming together to explore how AI is shaping industries across our city and beyond. I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to participate in a thought-provoking panel on AI & Digital Disruption, alongside inspiring leaders Patrick Bangert, Kumar Lakshmipathi, Nadia Bollinger, Wogbe (wo-bee) Ofori, and expertly moderated by Professor Haiyang Li from Rice Jones School of Business. The discussions were insightful, collaborative, and forward-thinking—highlighting not just the potential of AI, but also the challenges and responsibilities we must navigate together. Key Takeaways from the Panel are: 1. AI is imperative for all businesses. Every organization should embark on an AI transformation journey with the mindset to “start small but think big.” 2. AI is broader than Generative AI. In asset-heavy industries, AI applications involving time-series data, video, and image analytics are often more critical than Generative AI. The key is to start with the problem, not the technology, and identify the best AI approach for solving it. 3. Edge AI is the key to scaling AI deployment. Many real-world applications rely on AI at the edge, and this trend is becoming increasingly important across industries. 4. AI is not yet ready for mission-critical applications where human lives are at stake, such as in the space industry. While progress is being made, safety and reliability remain top priorities. 5. AI is a catalyst for innovation ecosystems. AI can bridge the gap between academic research and real-world industry challenges, connect entrepreneurs with venture capital, identify trends and technology gaps, and optimize resources like funding, talent, and infrastructure to maximize impact. A huge thank you to Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship, Rice Innovation, Brad Burke, Paul Cherukuri, Michael L. Koenig, Zoran Perunovic, Jing Zhou, Haiyang Li, Roberta Schwartz, Barbara Burger, Brian Richards, Dan Shoenthal, Aditya Bansod, and everyone who contributed to this incredible event. The spirit of collaboration and innovation at Rice University and within Houston’s AI ecosystem is truly inspiring. Let’s continue to push the boundaries of AI together! #AI #Innovation #Collaboration #RiceUniversity #Houston #Entrepreneurship

Startups from around the world applied for the Rice Business Plan Competition, presented by Rice Business—the largest and richest intercollegiate student startup competition! 2025 was a record-breaking application season, and only 42 of the very best student-led startups will be invited to compete for more than $1M in prizes on April 10 - 12 in Houston, Texas! Ready to find out who they are? Mark your calendars, bookmark rbpc.rice.edu, and tune in on February 19 at 2:00 PM CST as we unveil the competitors!

This Friday, February 6 the call for ventures closes for the 2025 Energy Venture Day and Pitch Competition at CERAWeek, co-hosted with Houston Energy Transition Initiative (HETI) and TEX-E. This is a unique opportunity to connect with top investors, corporate tech scouts and industry leaders driving the energy transition. Selected ventures will have two chances to pitch in front of a global audience of investors, tech scouts and industry experts: during the preview event at the Ion Houston and then in the Innovation Agora at CERAWeek. The public presentations will be followed by private, 1:1 meetings with 50+ investor groups. Learn about them here: https://lnkd.in/gJ8buktk The winner of the competition will be invited to compete in the Startup World Cup Grand Finale event, powered by Pegasus Tech Ventures, to compete for a $1 Million investment prize. Don’t miss your opportunity to showcase your venture—applications are due this week! https://lnkd.in/gY2vJ-Xr Tara Williams Jane Stricker Brad Burke David Pruner

Join us for the Rice Innovation 2025 Outlook and Rice Nexus Grand Opening to celebrate the official launch of the Rice Nexus, the newest hub for collaboration and acceleration of Rice-led ventures. This milestone event showcases how the Rice Nexus connects Rice-founded startups with investors, corporations, and innovators across Houston and beyond. The event will feature remarks from Reginald DesRoches, Rice University President; Bobby Tudor, Greentown Labs Board Chair; Dr. Sanjoy Paul, MBA (Wharton), IEEE Fellow, Executive Director of the Rice Nexus; and Tim Crain, Chief Technology Officer at Intuitive Machines. After the program, enjoy networking in the Nexus Showroom, featuring cutting-edge technology and prototypes from Rice labs and startups. Don’t miss this exciting opportunity to connect with Rice’s innovation ecosystem and celebrate the future of entrepreneurship. We look forward to welcoming you to the Ion Houston Forum Stairs, located at 4201 Main Street in Houston, from 9:00-11:00 AM on February 14, 2025. Register here: https://lu.ma/glixb2v2 Reginald DesRoches, Amy Dittmar, Paul Cherukuri, Ramamoorthy Ramesh, Dr. Sanjoy Paul, MBA (Wharton), IEEE Fellow, Adrian Trömel, Brad Burke, Roslynn Velasquez, Nafisa Istami, Grant Belton, Jinneth Ramos, Rice University #RiceInnovation, #HoustonInnovation, #Entrepreneurship, #RiceUniversity, #IonHouston, #RiceNexus

We lost a friend, partner, and leader in the Houston life science innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem this week, Ann Tanabe, the CEO of BioHouston. Ann spent the last 14 years giving back to the life science community in Houston, and we'll deeply miss her. She was our partner in launching the Texas Life Science Forum in 2012, and every year, she worked tirelessly to make it the best possible conference to support the entrepreneurs, founders, researchers, and investors in the life science ecosystem. She was laser focused on seeing Houston truly become the "Third Coast" in life sciences. Our thoughts go out to her family and many close friends. We look forward to celebrating her life and honoring her at this year's 20th Annual BioHouston Chili Cookoff. We hope she'll be looking down and smiling as the community comes together to raise up a bowl of chili in her honor! #RememberingAnn #BioHouston (Image credit: BioHouston).

Is your startup AI-ready? AI is transforming how startups build, scale, and compete—are you keeping up? Join us for Software Day at the Ion: AI Proofing Your Startup on Tuesday, Feb. 4, where Mercury and its portfolio companies will break down best practices for integrating AI into your business strategy. Moderated by Heath Butler of Mercury, hear from founders who’ve successfully navigated this shift: - Matt Robillard, SmartAC - Collin McLelland, Collide (Digital Wildcatters) - Jeremy Gottlieb, CFA, CPA, Veritec AI Stay ahead of the curve—learn how to future-proof your startup in the age of AI! RSVP now: https://lnkd.in/g7ch9uzM.

The Rice Business Plan Competition (RBPC) will take place April 10-12, 2025. The RBPC is the best platform for graduate-student led startups in energy, hard tech, life sciences, digital enterprise and consumer products. Not only will you have an opportunity to be mentored by successful entrepreneurs, but you'll have access to more than $1M in cash prizes. If you’re a graduate student ready to turn your idea into a global success story, this is your chance! See if you're eligible and apply TODAY by 11:59 p.m.! https://lnkd.in/dYXsDQDX