2025 Rice University Business Plan Competition

About the Rice Business Plan Competition (RBPC)

The Rice Business Plan Competition (RBPC) 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 and the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University. The Rice Alliance is Rice University's internationally-recognized initiative devoted to the support of entrepreneurship. This will be the 25th year of 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 $1.5 million in cash and prizes.

The competition is designed to give collegiate entrepreneurs a real-world experience to pitch their startups to investors, receive mentoring, network with the entrepreneurial ecosystem, enhance their startup strategy, and learn what it takes to launch a successful startup.

Alumni from the RBPC have raised more than $5.5 billion in funding and have generated more than 56 successful exits, valued at over $7 billion dollars.

Benefit

RBPC providse an intense, immersive experience over the course three days for student startup founders to pitch to investors, receive multiple rounds of feedback and advance their startup.

There will be over $1.5 million in prizes, and all 42 teams who compete at Rice University in Houston are guaranteed to win cash prizes. Currently, the minimum cash prize is $800 and the grand prize winner receives a $150,000 investment (typically in the form of a convertible debt note.)

Important dates and deadlines

November 1, 2024

at 8:00 AM CDT

Applications to Rice Business Plan Competition open online

January 10, 2025

by 11:59 PM CST

Deadline to submit Application

Mid to late February 2025

At Noon PM CST

RBPC announces 42 teams to compete via live video, email andphone

Mid to late February 2025

by 5:00 PM CST

Invited teams confirm commitment to compete; last day to last day to

withdraw without penalty

Enquiry: rbpc@rice.edu
Registration link: www.rbpc.rice.edu