Veloci wins the 2025 Rice Launch Challenge
Veloci, an innovative shoe company founded by Rice student-athlete Tyler Strothman, took home the top prize at the annual Napier Rice Launch Challenge (NRLC). The April 22 banner event featured pitches from the final five ventures of the competition to a panel of distinguished judges in front of a live audience.
Lilie announces 2025 Rice Innovation Fellows cohort
The Liu Idea Lab for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Lilie) has introduced the 2025 Rice Innovation Fellows cohort, a dynamic group set to lead the future of scientist- and engineer-driven spinout ventures from Rice labs.
Intero Biosystems from University of Michigan wins Rice Business Plan Competition
Intero Biosystems — a life science company that has developed the first cell-derived human “minigut” replicating cell types, spatial structure and function of the human intestine — took home the grand prize at the 2025 Rice Business Plan Competition.
Propelling the future of prosthetics
Pranai Reddy, a senior studying business management, biochemistry and entrepreneurship, has spent his time at Rice University figuring out how to improve the usability in prosthetic hands and how to give students a hands-on learning experience in venture capital.
Rice Biotech Launch Pad and RBL LLC to celebrate official launch and lab opening
The Rice Biotech Launch Pad and RBL LLC will hold an event to celebrate the official launch and lab opening of RBL LLC May 5, following a Rice presidential lecture delivered by Robert Langer Jr. The launch event, held at Helix Park, will also feature a keynote a keynote presentation by Robert Ruffolo Jr.
Veterans Business Battle returns to Rice March 13-14
Rice Business is hosting its 11th annual Veterans Business Battle — a forum for veterans to connect with investors, advisers and resources. Each year, the event gives military veterans an opportunity to pitch business ideas for a chance to raise capital.
Rice opens the Rice Nexus, an innovation factory in the Ion focused on AI
Rice is celebrating the grand opening of the Rice Nexus, its flagship innovation hub in the Ion District designed to help faculty, students and alumni founders turn breakthrough research into high-impact startups.
Rice Nexus grand opening event Feb. 14
Rice will officially open the Rice Nexus, its flagship innovation factory located in the heart of Houston’s vibrant Ion District.
Rice Business tops Princeton Review entrepreneurship rankings for sixth year in a row
Rice’s Jones Graduate School of Business has taken the No. 1 spot in The Princeton Review and Entrepreneurship magazines’ rankings of top schools for graduate entrepreneurship programs for the sixth year running.
Rice Alliance gathers industry leaders to drive clean energy innovation
Houston’s inaugural Energy and Climate Startup Week brought together leading venture capital investors, industry leaders and startups from around the world to showcase the most innovative companies and technologies that are transforming the energy industry. The citywide initiative held last month celebrated Houston’s role in driving the energy transition and was organized by a group of regional organizations, academic institutions and corporations in the Houston ecosystem, including the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship, Halliburton Labs, Greentown Labs, Activate, Digital Wildcatters and the Houston Energy Transition Initiative.
Running track while running a business
“It’s about empowering people and making them more comfortable while doing what they care about,” said Rice student-athlete Tyler Strothman, a Duncan College senior, about his startup Veloci. He added that his running shoe company offers a better designed shoe — one that actually fits the anatomical shape of a human’s foot.
DesRoches: Rice is committed to research that addresses global issues
Rice President Reginald DesRoches spoke with author Walter Isaacson at a fireside chat ahead of a startup pitch day hosted by Halliburton Labs as part of the inaugural Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week 2024. DesRoches and Isaacson spoke about Houston's innovation ecosystem and academia’s role in the future of technology and innovation.
Lilie showcases 8 student startups that are making a difference in their industries
Eight Rice student startups presented their ventures at the 2024 Summer Venture Studio Accelerator (SVS) Demo Day hosted by Rice’s Liu Idea Lab for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Lilie) Sept. 17 in the Anderson Clarke Center. Lilie is the home for entrepreneurship education, exploration and acceleration for students, faculty and alumni from every discipline.
The Energy Tech Venture Forum (ETVF), hosted by the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship, will convene innovators and investors at a Sept. 12 conference to connect ventures with Houston’s energy ecosystem. The forum is an anchor event for the inaugural Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week, happening Sept. 9-13. This week is a city-wide initiative to bring together and celebrate the momentum in Houston driving the energy transition. Many events are hosted at the Ion, Houston’s innovation hub powered by Rice.
Activate fellows ‘embody the best of Rice entrepreneurship’
Four Rice fellows and three Rice-affiliated startup ventures were selected to be a part of the inaugural Houston cohort of The Activate Fellowship for 2024. Activate is widely recognized as one of the flagship entrepreneurship programs that support startups focused on deep tech, and these four founders are the only representatives of Texas academia in the cohort.
