Rice Business Plan Competition
Experiential, Impactful, and “Best. Competition. Ever”
The RBPC showcases the best university startups from across the U.S. and around the world, while providing student entrepreneurs the unparalleled experience of pitching their startups to investors and learning what it takes to build and launch a successful business.
The competition, having completed its 24th year, gives collegiate entrepreneurs real-world experience to pitch their startups, enhance their business strategy and learn what it takes to launch a successful company. Hosted and organized by the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship—which is Rice University's internationally-recognized initiative devoted to the support of entrepreneurship—and Rice Business. Over 23 years 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 million in cash and prizes. It is the largest and richest student startup competition in the world.
We will be looking for startups to apply that:
- are student-driven, student-created and/or student-managed
- are from a college or university anywhere in the world
- have at least two current student founders or management team members (and at least one of those students must be a current graduate degree-seeking student (MA, PhD, MBA, JD, etc.)
- fall into one of our 5 sectors: Energy, Cleantech & Sustainability, Life Science & Healthcare Solutions, Hard Tech, Digital Enterprise, or Consumer Products & Services
- are seeking funding or capital (or will be in the next 12 months)
- are potentially viable investment opportunities
Applications are open until January 17, 2025
TigerLaunch: The World's Largest Student-Run Entrepreneurship Competition
Applications due November 10th, 2024
TigerLaunch is the world's largest student-run entrepreneurship competition, organized by students at Princeton, with regionals in NYC, Berkeley, Houston, Singapore, London, Paris, and Mumbai! Every year, our contestants (from all over the world!) are chosen for selective accelerator programs like Y Combinator and have the opportunity to receive feedback from top VCs around the world. Best of all, TigerLaunch is all-expenses-paid and winners will receive $60,000 in no-strings-attached funding. Travel/housing fees will be compensated for regional competitors.
Heartland Challenge Startup Competition
Key Details:
- Registration Deadline: January 17, 2025 (11:59pm CT)
- Final Presentations: April 3-5, 2025 at University of Arkansas
- Eligibility: The competition is for graduate students currently enrolled on a full or parttime basis (i.e. from July 2024 to June 2025) at accredited universities around the world (however exceptional undergraduate teams will also be considered). Students who graduated, or will graduate, after July 1, 2024 are included. Students who graduated before July 2024 are not eligible to participate.
- Prizes: 12 semifinalist teams will compete for a prize pool of up to $100,000
XPRIZE Carbon Removal
XPRIZE Carbon Removal is aimed at tackling the biggest threat facing humanity - fighting climate change and rebalancing Earth’s carbon cycle. Funded by Elon Musk and the Musk Foundation, this $100M competition is the largest incentive prize in history, an extraordinary milestone.
This four-year global competition invites innovators and teams from anywhere on the planet to create and demonstrate solutions that can pull carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere or oceans, and sequester it durably and sustainably. To win the grand prize, teams must demonstrate a working solution at a scale of at least 1000 tonnes removed per year; model their costs at a scale of 1 million tonnes per year; and show a pathway to achieving a scale of gigatonnes per year in future.
Please reach out to May Wang, Jim Moran College's Student Engagement Coordinator, with any questions.
Florida Blue Health Innovation Challenge
The Florida Blue Health Innovation Challenge seeks for innovations and disruptive technologies developed by students to tackle healthcare challenges in Florida. The concepts should address topics that Florida Blue considers to be an active and ongoing problem in the healthcare system.
Impact Week Pitch Competition
Interested in pitching your business idea?
APPLY for the Domi Station Pitch Event. Finalist will pitch at IMPACT WEEK
Impact Week, happening on November 19-21, is a nonprofit Business Conference & Speaker Series right here in Tallahassee, FL! You are invited to engage with innovators, entrepreneurs, and leaders from across the city, region, and state at the Challenger Learning Center in downtown Tallahassee.
This week-long event, free for students, focuses on business development, collaboration, and growth. Targeting startups, small businesses, and nonprofits, Impact Week offers valuable networking opportunities and hands-on workshops covering essential business topics such as strategy, planning, exit, financial literacy, cybersecurity, digital marketing, creative services, AI and more.
If you are intersted in hearing more about Impact Week, or would like a free student ticket, please contact May Wang at mwang@jmc.fsu.edu
Carnegie Mellon's Corporate Startup Lab (CSL) Third Annual Nationwide Case Competition
Key Details:
- Registration Deadline: September 20, 2024 (Midnight ET)
- Final Presentations: October 23, 2024, at Carnegie Mellon University
- Eligibility: Open to all graduate and Ph.D. students from U.S. universities and colleges
- Teams are limited to 3-4 students per team
- Prizes: $20,000 in total prizes for the top three teams
The Corporate Startup Lab is proud to launch its Third Annual Case Competition in the Fall of 2024!
$20,000 in total prizes will be awarded to the top three teams creating entrepreneurial approach solving a problem in Financial Wellness.
This competition is a great opportunity for graduate level students, particularly those pursuing studies in business, finance, entrepreneurship, and related fields.
Please reach out to May Wang, Jim Moran College's Student Engagement Coordinator, with any questions.
Baylor New Venture Competition
Key Details:
- BNVC Applicant Round One Deadline: Executive Summary (Online), Nov. 3, 2024
- BNVC Finals (In Person, at Baylor University): Saturday, March 29, 2025
- Eligibility: open to teams of not-for-profit accredited university students and recent alumni around the world.
- There is no limit to the number of teams from a single university that may apply. For further information on team eligibility, visit the 2025 official guidebook linked in the application
- Prizes: more than $200,000 in cash prizes and vital resources
The John F. Baugh Center for Entrepreneurship and Free Enterprise will host the 13th Annual Baylor New Venture Competition on March 28-29 at Baylor University's Foster Campus for Business and Innovation. Applications for the competition are open Sept. 1 through Nov. 3. This business plan and elevator pitch competition showcases collegiate student created, managed and led ventures from across the globe. The competition provides participants with personal and professional development through:
- industry-specific mentorship towards sustainable business plans,
- exclusive access to accomplished experts and fellow innovators,
- and a chance to compete for more than $200,000 in cash prizes and vital resources.
Please reach out to May Wang, Jim Moran College's Student Engagement Coordinator, with any questions.
Frank and Ellen Daveler Pitch Competition
Key Details:
- Deadline to submit applications is Monday, November 1, 2024
- Selected students are requiered to showcase their entrepreneurial ideas at the in-person event on Friday, November 15, 2024 at the University of South Florida Research Park: 3814 Spectrum Blvd, Tampa, FL 33612
- Eligibility: open to undergraduate students only at colleges or universities in the state of Florida
- Prizes: $5,000 For Scholars and $3,000 For Fellows
Up to 12 student teams will be chosen and will be given 8 minutes to pitch their innovation in front of a panel of judges from various entrepreneurship backgrounds who will evaluate their business ideas. Some of the innovations pitched at Daveler include:
- Sustainable Products
- Subscription Boxes
- Physical Prototypes
- E: Learning Platforms
- Fitness Tech
- Leisure Based Productd
- ...and More!
Please reach out to May Wang, Jim Moran College's Student Engagement Coordinator, with any questions.
