Forty-two teams selected to compete in the world

Teams announced for 2009 Rice Business Plan Competition
Forty-two teams selected to compete in the world’s richest and largest business plan competition

MARY LYNN FERNAU
Special to the Rice News

Forty-two teams have been selected for the 2009 Rice Business Plan Competition at Rice University. Nearly 340 entries — a 45 percent increase from 2008 — were submitted from around the globe. Teams were chosen on the basis of their executive summaries to compete in the April 16-18 event.

Thirty-six of the teams will contend in four categories: life sciences, information technology, energy and sustainability. Winners of each category will compete for a grand prize of up to $325,000. A total of  $170,000 in additional investment and cash prizes was added this year, including three new $20,000 Earth/Space Engineering Innovation awards sponsored by NASA and one $100,000 tech transfer investment prize offered by DFJ Mercury, an early stage venture-capital firm.

The other six teams will to compete in the area of social entrepreneurship, a new category this year. They will vie for the $10,000 Sheafor-Lindsay Social Venture Award. This cash award aims to encourage business leaders to develop enterprises that have a positive impact on society.

All 42 teams will compete in the elevator-pitch competition. Each will take home a prize and receive valuable feedback from more than 200 judges, who themselves are successful venture capital investors, entrepreneurs and business leaders.

Past competitors have a track record of success; 84 have successfully launched their businesses after competing at Rice and raised more than $145 million in early stage funding. Some of the many promising team business plans this year include:

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