5 Rice University-founded startups named finalists ahead of annual pitch competition

student founders

The H. Albert Napier Rice Launch Challenge is taking place this month. See which student-founded startups made it to the finals. Photo courtesy of Rice

Five student-founded startups are headed to the finals of a prestigious Rice University startup pitch competition later this month.

The H. Albert Napier Rice Launch Challenge, or NRLC, is a venture competition that features Rice University's top student-founded startups. The annual competition is open to undergraduate, graduate, and MBA students. The organization also has an alumni track, which will not be held this year, but will open its applications in 2024.

According to Rice, NRLC attracted more applicants than ever this year, and the organization had to narrow down the finalists in two rounds. The first round selecter 12 companies and the second round narrowed down to the five finalists that will compete at NRLC's 2023 championship event is on April 19. The finalists will pitch their business ventures to win a share of $100,000 in equity-free funding. The event is free and open to anyone interested in attending.

Here are the five startups founded by Rice students that have made it to the finals.

Goldie

Goldie, founded by three Rice MBA students, uses its algorithm-based fit finder technology to help online shoppers find their perfect fits digitally based on physical measurements and production size charts. On the other end of the transactions, Goldie lowers the 21 percent e-commerce rate of returns and increases customer lifetime value.

Founders: Viviane Nguyen, CEO and MBA ‘23; Stephanie Zhou, COO and MBA ‘23; Samantha Wong, CTO and Master's of science in Mechanical Engineering and MBA ‘22.

Separion

As the world continues to solve the challenges associated with energy storage, the demand for lithium continues to rise. Separion has a solution that uses brines already produced by geothermal energy and provides an environmentally friendly extraction process will supply lithium faster, purer, and greener.

Founders: Yuren Feng, CEO and Environmental Engineering PhD ‘24; Xiaochuan Huang, CTO and Environmental Engineering PhD ‘23; Ze He, COO and Chemical Engineering PhD ‘23

Sygne Solutions

The world is riddled with "forever" chemicals, as defined by the CDC. These per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances build up in our bodies, dever degrade, and can cause many health issues, such as cancer, asthma, liver damage, thyroid disease, decreased fertility, and cause congenital disabilities. Sygne Solutions has created a patent-pending technology that permanently destroys PFAS – thereby eliminating them from the environment. The process is scalable and sustainable, and targets the substances in water.

Founders: Bo Wang, Chemical Engineering PhD ‘23; Subash Kannan, MBA ‘24; Dana Vazquez, MBA ‘24; Kimberly Heck, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Research Scientist

Tidepay

Tidepay is targeting the shipping industry with its HR and payroll solution that streamlines the onboarding process and helps transfer wages to their globally positioned employees’ bank accounts. The technology enables character reading technology to scan documents and verify eligibility and provides digital bank accounts and debit cards to unbanked seafarers. They also serve the seafarer by offering financial and logistical support services beyond remittance.

Founders: Andrew Pitigoi, CEO and Finance BBA ‘26; Devin Shah, CFO and Finance BBA ‘26

Tierra Climate

Tierra Climate is looking at a unique challenge within the grid-scale battery business. Normally not compensated for the clean storage work they do, these battery operators are able to be compensated on the Tierra Climate platform, where battery projects can sell verified Carbon Avoidance Offsets to corporate buyers.

Founders: Emma Konet, CTO and MBA ’24; Jacob Mansfield, CEO and Harvard MBA ‘23

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Houston space tech companies land $25 million from Texas commission

Out Of This World

Two Houston aerospace companies have collectively received $25 million in grants from the Texas Space Commission.

Starlab Space picked up a $15 million grant, and Intuitive Machines gained a $10 million grant, according to a Space Commission news release.

Starlab Space says the money will help it develop the Systems Integration Lab in Webster, which will feature two components — the main lab and a software verification facility. The integration lab will aid creation of Starlab’s commercial space station.

“To ensure the success of our future space missions, we are starting with state-of-the-art testing facilities that will include the closest approximation to the flight environment as possible and allow us to verify requirements and validate the design of the Starlab space station,” Starlab CEO Tim Kopra said in a news release.

Starlab’s grant comes on top of a $217.5 million award from NASA to help eventually transition activity from the soon-to-be-retired International Space Station to new commercial destinations.

Intuitive Machines is a space exploration, infrastructure and services company. Among its projects are a lunar lander designed to land on the moon and a lunar rover designed for astronauts to travel on the moon’s surface.

The grants come from the Space Commission’s Space Exploration and Aeronautics Research Fund, which recently awarded $47.7 million to Texas companies.

Other recipients were:

  • Cedar Park-based Firefly Aerospace, which received $8.2 million
  • Brownsville-based Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), which received $7.5 million
  • Van Horn-based Blue Origin, which received $7 million

Gwen Griffin, chair of the commission, says the grants “will support Texas companies as we grow commercial, military, and civil aerospace activity across the state.”

State lawmakers established the commission in 2023, along with the Texas Aerospace Research & Space Economy Consortium, to bolster the state’s space industry.

Houston experts: Can AI bridge the gap between tech ambitions and market realities?

guest column

Despite successful IPOs from the likes of Ibotta, Reddit and OneStream, 2024 hasn’t provided the influx of capital-raising opportunities that many late-stage tech startups and venture capitalists (VCs) have been waiting for. Since highs last seen in 2021—when 90 tech companies went public—the IPO market has been effectively frozen, with just five tech IPOs between January and September 2024.

As a result, limited partners have not been able to replenish investments and redeploy capital. This shifting investment landscape has VCs and tech leaders feeling stuck in a holding pattern. Tech leaders are hesitant to enter the public markets because valuations are down 30 percent to 40 percent from 2021, which is also making late-stage fundraising more challenging. After all, longer IPO timelines mean fewer exit opportunities for VCs and reduced capital from institutional investors who are turning toward shorter-term investments with more liquid exit options.

Of course, there’s always an exception. And in the case of a slowed IPO market, a select slice of tech companies—AI-related companies—are far outperforming others. While not every tech startup has AI software or infrastructure as their core offering, most can benefit from using AI to revise their playbook and become more attractive to investors.

Unlocking Growth Potential with AI

While overall tech startup investment has slowed, the AI sector burns bright. This presents an opportunity for companies that strategically leverage AI, not just as a buzzword but as a tool for genuine growth and differentiation. Imagine a future where AI-powered insights unlock unprecedented efficiency, customer engagement and a paradigm shift in value creation. This isn’t just about weathering the current storm of reduced access to capital; it’s about emerging stronger, ready to lead the next wave of tech innovation.

Here's how to navigate the AI frontier and unlock its potential:

  1. Understand that data is the foundation of AI success. AI is powerful, but it’s not magic. It thrives on high-quality, interconnected data. Before diving into AI initiatives, companies must assess their data health. Is it structured in a way that AI can understand? Does it go beyond raw numbers to capture context and meaning—like customer sentiment alongside sales figures? Rethinking data infrastructure is often the crucial first step.
  1. Focus on amplifying strengths, not reinventing the wheel. The allure of AI can tempt companies into pursuing radical reinvention. However, a more effective strategy is to leverage AI to enhance existing strengths and address core customer needs. Why do customers choose your company? How can AI supercharge your value proposition? Consider Reddit’s strategic approach: They didn’t overhaul their platform before their 2024 IPO. Instead, they showcased the value of their vast online communities as fertile ground for AI development, leading to a remarkable first-day stock surge of 48 percent.

  2. Use AI as a customer-centric force multiplier. Companies with a deep understanding of their customer base are primed for AI success. By integrating AI into the very core of their product or service—the reason customers choose them—they can create a decisive competitive advantage based on delivering tangible customer value.

From Incremental Gains to Transformative Growth

This practical, customer-centric approach has the potential to help companies generate immediate growth while laying the foundation for future reinvention. By leveraging AI to optimize operations, deepen customer relationships, and redefine industry paradigms, late-state tech startups can not only survive but thrive in a dynamic market. The future belongs to those who embrace AI not as a destination but as a continuous journey of innovation and growth.

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Hong Ogle is the president of Bank of America Houston. Rodrigo Ortiz Gomez is a market executive in Bank of America’s Transformative Technology Banking Group as well as the national software banking lead for the Global Commercial Bank.

Houston joint venture secures $5.2M for AI-powered methane tracking tech

Fresh Funds

Houston-based Envana Software Solutions has received more than $5.2 million in federal and non-federal funding to support the development of technology for the oil and gas sector to monitor and reduce methane emissions.

Thanks to the work backed by the new funding, Envana says its suite of emissions management software will become the industry's first technology to allow an oil and gas company to obtain a full inventory of greenhouse gases.

The funding comes from a more than $4.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and more than $1 million in non-federal funding.

“Methane is many times more potent than carbon dioxide and is responsible for approximately one-third of the warming from greenhouse gases occurring today,” Brad Crabtree, assistant secretary at DOE, said in 2024.

With the funding, Envana will expand artificial intelligence (AI) and physics-based models to help detect and track methane emissions at oil and gas facilities.

“We’re excited to strengthen our position as a leader in emissions and carbon management by integrating critical scientific and operational capabilities. These advancements will empower operators to achieve their methane mitigation targets, fulfill their sustainability objectives, and uphold their ESG commitments with greater efficiency and impact,” says Nagaraj Srinivasan, co-lead director of Envana.

In conjunction with this newly funded project, Envana will team up with universities and industry associations in Texas to:

  • Advance work on the mitigation of methane emissions
  • Set up internship programs
  • Boost workforce development
  • Promote environmental causes

Envana, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) startup, provides emissions management technology to forecast, track, measure and report industrial data for greenhouse gas emissions.

Founded in 2023, Envana is a joint venture between Houston-based Halliburton, a provider of products and services for the energy industry, and New York City-based Siguler Guff, a private equity firm. Siguler Gulf maintains an office in Houston.

“Envana provides breakthrough SaaS emissions management solutions and is the latest example of how innovation adds to sustainability in the oil and gas industry,” Rami Yassine, a senior vice president at Halliburton, said when the joint venture was announced.

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This story originally appeared on our sister site, EnergyCapitalHTX.com

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