With startups on display, faculty in the spotlight and strategic partnerships underway, Rice University made a powerful statement at Viva Technology 2025 — Europe’s largest technology conference — as co-leader of a historic trade mission to Paris. The university joined the Greater Houston Partnership in hosting the first city booth at the global event, which drew more than 180,000 attendees from across the international tech ecosystem.
“This was a breakthrough moment for Rice,” said Caroline Levander, vice president for global strategy. “To stand at the heart of Europe’s largest tech conference and represent our university, our startups and our city sent a clear message that Rice belongs on the world’s innovation stage.”
The Houston booth featured several Rice-affiliated startups: Rugged Robotics, DirectH2, MCatalysis, XMAD.ai and ThirdAI. The foot traffic was steady from the moment the floor opened, and interest only grew as visitors engaged with Rice entrepreneurs, faculty and students throughout the multiday conference.
“There’s real curiosity about what’s happening in Houston,” said John Cypher, GHP’s vice president of international investment and trade. “People are surprised in a good way by how fast we’re growing in AI, energy transition and health tech. They’re seeing Houston not just as a hub for industry but as a city where startups are thriving and universities are driving innovation.”
“VivaTech is a win-win for startups and a unique opportunity for U.S.-based innovators to tap into a thriving European enterprise ecosystem,” said Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo. “With Rice University co-leading our delegation and showcasing Houston’s research and entrepreneurial strength, we made it clear: Houston isn’t just keeping up. We’re helping set the pace globally.”
VivaTech served as both an anchor and amplifier for the broader Houston trade mission. On June 9, Rice hosted a welcome event at its Rice Global Paris Center, where faculty, startup founders and Houston business leaders gathered to kick off the week. On June 12, the university and GHP hosted a second reception at 1 Place Vendôme, site of the former Embassy of the Republic of Texas, welcoming French company leaders and international stakeholders for an evening of cross-border connections.
“At every turn, whether on the showroom floor or at our receptions, it was clear that Rice and Houston belong in this space,” Levander said. “There was genuine interest in collaboration and in many cases eagerness to build long-term partnerships. We’re leaving Paris with more than visibility; we’re leaving with momentum.”
Among the Houston booth’s highlights was a live demonstration by Rugged Robotics, a Rice-grown startup that transforms construction workflows using autonomous technology. Its co-founder and chief technology officer Logan Farrell, a NASA veteran and Rice alumnus, is deeply connected to the university’s innovation ecosystem. He’s currently a lecturer in mechanical engineering and is very involved with the entrepreneurship program.
“For startups, it’s all about people recognizing who you are,” Farrell said. “If nobody knows who you are, no matter how good your product is, it doesn’t matter. So you need to develop mindshare. You need to get people talking about it … playing that game of awareness at events like this is a great way to do that.”
Faculty and founders alike emphasized that the momentum was about more than one summit. They say their goal is to shift global perceptions and show what Houston and Rice are capable of.
“This really speaks to the president’s strategic plan Momentous and all the efforts to put Rice on the global stage,” said Aditya Mohite, the William M. Rice Trustee Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and co-founder and chief science officer of DirectH2. “We’ve always been a powerhouse in terms of science and engineering and technology, but somehow we’ve never really had a global presence. I think Rice Global is an attempt to put us on the map.”
That mission to raise global awareness for Rice’s capabilities was especially evident in fast-moving sectors like artificial intelligence. For Anshumali Shrivastava, associate professor of computer science and co-founder of ThirdAI, the global attention on AI at VivaTech made it an especially relevant place to be.
“Artificial intelligence is one of the biggest themes at a showcase of some of the coolest technology,” Shrivastava said. “Even governments are interested in knowing about the technology. We are in the phase where technological superiority is very easily tied to political and even country superiority.”
Shrivastava said Rice’s presence at the event sent a clear message.
“VivaTech is a great place to show that we are truly a global institution,” Shrivastava said, noting that Rice just announced it will be offering a new bachelor’s degree in AI.
As the Houston delegation packed up after a week of networking, demos and receptions, the vision for future partnerships remained strong.
“We are confirmed in our belief that we have an opportunity here to really brand Rice as a science-rigorous, entrepreneurial, engineering-committed institution in Europe,” Levander said. “That is the takeaway, not only with the tech sector and the (venture capitalists) that are here but also with some peer universities who are here.”
