Two UM Teams In Rice University Business Plan Competition
Two teams from the University of Michigan are among 42 teams selected from around the world to compete in the finals of the Rice University Business Plan Competition.
Billed as the world's richest graduate-level college business plan competition, the event will award more than $1 million in prizes and other business assitance when it convenes at Rice in Houston April 14-16.
The teams were selected from more than 500 entries, an application pool that was more than 20 percent higher than last year.
Teams were chosen based on their executive summaries to compete in six categories: life sciences, information technology, energy and clean technology, green technology, renewable and recycling, and social and other.
The teams will have 15 minutes to present business plans and the top six competitors will vie for the grand prize valued at more than $400,000.
The 2011 competition will feature the new $100,000 Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers Prize for CleanTech Innovation. The KPCB prize is intended to encourage business and technology solutions for cleaner power, transportation and water. KPCB has backed entrepreneurs in more than 600 ventures, including Amazon, Amyris, Bloom Energy, Electronic Arts, Genentech, Google, Intuit, Netscape, Sun, Symantec and Zynga.
Of the 312 teams who have competed during the 10 years of the competition, 102 have successfully launched their ventures and are in business today, raising more than $327 million in early stage funding. These companies have created more than 600 new jobs in their early stages.
The UM entries are "Are You A Human?" and "ReGenerate Solutions LLC."
More at www.alliance.rice.edu.
