| Posted: February 19, 2008 |
Partnership increases pot for Rice competition |
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(Nanowerk News) The Greater Houston Partnership has pumped $200,000 into the prize pot for Rice University's annual Business Plan Competition.
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The two new $100,000 awards elevate total prizes to more than $600,000 for the April 3-5 competition hosted by the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship and the Jones Graduate School of Management.
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The funding was provided by Opportunity Houston, a Greater Houston Partnership five-year marketing program intended to generate leads for economic development organizations throughout Houston's 10-county region.
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"This generous prize money solidifies the Rice Business Plan Competition as the largest and richest intercollegiate business plan competition in the world for the fourth year running, with more than $600,000 in awards," said Brad Burke, managing director of the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship.
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"Opportunity Houston's involvement will help attract the most promising emerging technology companies to the competition and help establish Houston as a leader in technology entrepreneurship."
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One new $100,000 prize will be awarded to the company with the best life science technology business plan while the other new prize will go to the graduate student team with the top business plan in energy and petrochemicals, information technology, aviation and aerospace or nanotechnology.
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The awards are intended to provide seed funding for the winners to launch their companies in the Houston region.
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"The competition has established itself as the premier intercollegiate competition in the world," said Tracye McDaniel, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Greater Houston Partnership.
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"The talent and business sectors it attracts support our mission to build Houston business, attract capital investment, create jobs and generate foreign trade."
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