Rice Alliance

OwlSpark announces students, alumni and staff selected for its 13th cohort

OwlSpark, Rice’s startup and small business accelerator for Rice-affiliated ventures, brings together 11 companies in the program’s 13th year who represent a new wave of entrepreneurs tackling challenges across technology, consumer products, health care and more. Since 2013, the accelerator has supported 229 founders and launched 104 ventures with participants collectively raising more than $116 million in funding.

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.

Energy Venture Day at CERAWeek selects 9 ‘most promising’ startups

Nine companies were named most promising at the annual Rice Alliance Energy Venture Day and Pitch Competition at CERAWeek March 12, co-hosted with the Houston Energy Transition Initiative and TEX-E. The event showcases energy ventures driving efficiency and advancements toward the energy transition through fields such as carbon management, advanced manufacturing, hydrogen, grid technology and more. This year’s competition was a qualifying event for the Startup World Cup, powered by Pegasus Ventures. The top-scoring venture is invited to compete in the grand finale and a $1 million investment prize.

Rice Business Plan Competition, world’s largest and richest intercollegiate student startup competition, selects 2025 ventures

The 2025 Rice Business Plan Competition (RBPC) announced today the 42 startups invited to compete for more than $1 million in prizes April 10-12 at Rice University and the Ion in Houston.

Top university entrepreneurship centers announced at GCEC conference

The Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers (GCEC), headquartered at the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship in Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business, brought leading university entrepreneurship programs together to celebrate creativity and innovation in university-based entrepreneurship education for its annual conference Nov. 14-16. GCEC also announced the top programs in higher education at the event.

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.

Startups innovating the clean energy transition will showcase their technology at Sept. 12 Energy Tech Venture Forum

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.

First look at the Rice Nexus, Rice University’s premier innovation factory at the Ion

Rice has unveiled the first architectural renderings of the Rice Nexus, a groundbreaking innovation factory within the Ion that will transform ideas from Rice faculty and students into market-ready technology.

Bayou Startup Showcase highlights university-affiliated student ventures at the Ion

The annual Bayou Startup Showcase presented by Rice’s OwlSpark and the University of Houston’s RED Labs took place Aug. 1 at the Ion – Houston’s innovation hub powered by Rice.

Rice Alliance announces 12 energy startups advancing energy transition technology

Twelve energy startups from six states and two countries that are innovating in advanced materials, carbon management, digital tech, energy efficiencies, hydrogen and solar power and corrosion detection will participate in Class 4 of the Rice Alliance Clean Energy Accelerator.

Mercury, Ion launch inaugural Software Day at the Ion to support Houston software startups

The inaugural “Software Day at the Ion,“ a monthly series aimed at nurturing software innovation and supporting startups on their path to growth, takes place May 14.

University of Houston and Rice announce 2024 business accelerator cohort

The University of Houston and Rice University continue their 11-year collaboration to support Houston entrepreneurship by announcing the latest cohort of their respective startup and small business accelerators, RED Labs and OwlSpark. This summer the accelerators will host their ventures at the Ion, the heart of the Houston innovation corridor in Midtown.

Protein ice cream company wins 2024 Rice Business Plan Competition

Ice cream company Protein Pints took home the grand prize at the 2024 Rice Business Plan Competition (RBPC) April 6 as the best student ventures from top universities across the world competed for prizes in front of nearly 350 angel, venture capital and corporate investors and members of the business community.

Rice student startups take top prizes at the 2024 Energy Venture Day and Pitch Competition

Two student startups from Rice University won cash prizes for their energy companies at the Energy Venture Day and Pitch Competition at CERAWeek March 20 — an annual event to showcase energy ventures driving efficiency and advancements toward the energy transition through fields such as renewables, hydrogen solutions and carbon storage.