HOUSTON – (May 15, 2023) – Texas A&M University’s FluxWorks, a magnetic gear technology company, has won the Grand Prize in the 2023 Rice Business Plan Competition (RBPC).
RBPC is the world's largest and most well-funded student startup competition, hosted annually by the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship and Rice University's Jones School of Business. This year, his 42 startups competed for a $3.4 million prize, the highest prize in his 23 years at the event. Over 80 prizes were awarded and each team took home cash.
Winners were announced at the conclusion of a three-day pitching, coaching, and networking event that included an elevator pitch contest, practice rounds, semifinals, wildcards, and final rounds. The innovations presented led the sponsoring companies to add a number of prizes at the last minute.
RBPC Director Katherine Santamaria said, “The judges said the quality of startups in this year's competition was the highest ever,'' and “one judge went so far as to say that none of this year's startups were worthy of investment.'' I said,” he said.
42 startups represented 35 universities from five countries. They were selected from his more than 450 applicants and competed in one of his five categories: energy, clean technology, and sustainability. Life science and healthcare solutions. Consumer products and services. hard technology. and digital enterprise. Learn more about startups here.
RBPC's more than 350 judges act as early-stage investors, most of whom are early-stage investors, evaluating the potential of startups. Teams will pitch their business to investors, entrepreneurs, executives, and ecosystem partners during the event, then network and receive real-time feedback, advice, and mentorship.
The seven finalists based on the judges' overall scores are:
FluxWorks, Texas A&M University — $350,000 GOOSE Capital Investment Grand Prize.
FluxWorks' magnetic gear is 99% efficient and four times quieter than standard, allowing it to provide unprecedented reliability from outer space to underwater to even inside the human body.
Rice University, Sygne Solutions — Second place and $100,000 investment award sponsored by David Anderson, John Finger, Anderson Family Fund, Finger Interests, Greg Novak and Tracy Doles.
Sygne Solutions is a scalable and sustainable solution for removing a group of chemicals known as PFAS in water using patent-pending technology.
Zymo, Brigham Young University — Sponsored by David Anderson, John Finger, Anderson Family Funds, Finger Interests, Greg Novak, and Tracy Doles won third place and a $50,000 investment award.
Zaymo is a tool for e-commerce brands that embeds shopping experiences within their customers' emails.
Rice University Tierra Climate — Fourth place and Norton Rose Fulbright Award of $5,000.
Tierra Climate is a marketplace for selling verified carbon offsets to corporate buyers, increasing their revenue by as much as 20% to 30% and accelerating their efforts to achieve net-zero emissions.
Atma Reza, Yale University — EY 5th place prize of $5,000.
Atma Leather is a materials innovation company that develops plant-based leather from banana stalks and other crop waste, creating a sustainable alternative that is free from animal testing.
boston quantum, Massachusetts Institute of Technology — $5,000 Chevron Technology Ventures 6th place prize.
Boston Quantum aims to disrupt the financial industry with enterprise quantum computing software.
Harvard University Pathways — Shell Ventures 7th place prize of $5,000.
Pathways is building a full-stack sustainability platform for the construction industry.
This year's important awards and winning teams include:
* $300,000 OWL Investment Award — Boston Quantum, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
* $200,000 OWL Investment Award — Zaymo, Brigham Young University.
* $75,000 OWL Investment Award — Atma Leather, Yale University. Tierra Climate, Rice University;
* $100,000 TiE Houston Angels Investment Award — Sygne Solutions, Rice University.
*Houston Angel Network Investment Award $100,000 — Zymo, Brigham Young University.
* $500,000 Softeq Venture Fund Award — Zaymo, Brigham Young University.
* $300,000 Softeq Venture Fund Award — Scali, Northwestern University.
* $200,000 Softeq Venture Fund Award — Tierra Climate, Rice University.
* $125,000 Softeq Venture Fund Award (3 awards) — Boston Quantum, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. BlueVerse, Texas Tech University. University of Georgia Recycle Ship.
* $250,000 TMC Innovation Healthcare Investment Award — AirSeal, Washington University in St. Louis.
* Urban Capital Network Diversity Investment Award $25,000 in partnership with South Loop Ventures — Boston Quantum, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
* $25,000 New Climate Ventures Sustainability Investment Award — Active Surfaces, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
* $50,000 nCourage Investment Group Courageous Women Entrepreneurial Investment Award — Atma Leather, Yale University.
* $10,000 nCourage Investment Group Courageous Women Entrepreneur Investment Award — Thryft Ship, University of Georgia.
* $30,000 Pearland Economic Development Corporation Spirit of Entrepreneurship Award — MyLUA Health, Cornell University.
* $20,000 Novak Druce Carroll Investment Award (3 awards) – Blue Verse, Texas Tech University. Biome Future, University of Florida. Zymo, Brigham Young University.
* $25,000 Southwest National Pediatric Device Consortium Award (2 awards) — MiraHeart, Johns Hopkins University. Integrated Molecular Innovation, Michigan Technological University.
*15,000 Eagle Investor Award – Zymo, Brigham Young University.
*10,000 NABACO RBPC Alumni Network Award – Sitrimer, University of Michigan.
For more information about the 2023 Rice Business Plan Competition, visit rbpc.rice.edu.
