Thirteen of the 42 teams participating in RBPC 2024 walked away with investment funding. Photo courteys of Rice University

For the 24th year, the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship hosted its Rice Business Plan Competition, facilitating over $1.5 million in investment and cash prizes to the top teams.

The 42 startups competing this year, which were announced earlier this year and included teams from around the world, participated in the three-day event that culminated in a reception on Saturday, April 6. The companies were divided into five categories: Energy, Cleantech and Sustainability; Hard Tech; Life Sciences and Healthcare Solutions; Digital Enterprise; Consumer Products and Services.

“We award the competitors $1 million in prizes, prizes that serve as foundational capital to launch their startup,” RBPC Director Catherine Santamaria says at the awards gala. “That’s a large number of prizes, but the biggest thing our startups leave with is a feeling of generosity and community from this room. This community is always ready and willing to help our founders and support our vision for the competition by investing time, money and resources in these student innovators.”

While all participating teams received $950 for being selected, several teams walked away with thousands in funding, cash, and in-kind prizes. Here's which companies won big.

MesaQuantum, Harvard University — $335,000​

MesaQuantum is developing accurate and precise chip-scale clocks. While not named a finalist, the company secured the most amount of funding across a few prizes:

  • $250,000 OWL Investment Prizes
  • $60,000 nCourage Courageous Women Entrepreneur Investment Prize
  • $25,000 Jacobs, Intuitive Machines and WRX Companies Rising Stars Space Technology and Commercial Aerospace Cash Prize

Protein Pints, Michigan State University — $251,000

The big winner of the night was Protein Pints, a high-protein, low-sugar, ice cream product from Michigan State University. Not only did the company win first place and the $150,000 GOOSE Capital Investment Grand Prize, as decided by the more than 350 judges, but it won a few other investment prizes, including:

  • $100,000 The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) Texas Angels Investment Prize — Protein Pints, Michigan State University
  • The Eagle Investors Prize
  • $1,000 Anbarci Family Company Showcase Prize
  • Mercury Elevator Pitch Competition Prize (Best in Consumer Products)
  • An invitation to Entrepreneur Magazine's elevator pitch show

Osphim, RWTH Aachen University —$201,000

Osphim, a data acquisition and monitoring platform from Germany, won these prizes despite not being named a finalist:

  • $200,000 Goose Capital Investment Prize
  • $1,000 Anbarci Family Company Showcase Prize
  • Mercury Elevator Pitch Competition Prize (Best in Digital)

Somnair, Johns Hopkins University — $200,000

Taking second place and a $100,000 from David Anderson, Jon Finger, Anderson Family Fund, Finger Interests, Greg Novak and Tracy Druce was Somnair is a novel non-invasive neurostimulation device for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea. The company also won:

  • $100,000 Houston Angel Network Investment Prize
  • Mercury Elevator Pitch Competition Prize (Best in Life Science)
  • An invitation to Texas Medical Center's Accelerator Bootcamp
  • An invitation to Entrepreneur Magazine's elevator pitch show

Icorium Engineering Company, University of Kansas — $171,000

Icorium Engineering Company — a chemical engineering startup developing technologies to make sustainable, circular economies a reality for refrigerants and other complex chemical mixtures — won fifth place and a $5,000 prize sponsored by Norton Rose Fulbright, EY, Chevron Technology Ventures and Shell Ventures, as well as:

  • $100,000 OWL Investment Prizes
  • $40,000 nCourage Courageous Women Entrepreneur Investment Prize
  • $25,000 from Finger Interests, the Anderson Family Fund at the Greater Houston Community Foundation, Greg Novak and Tracy Druce
  • $1,000 Anbarci Family Company Showcase Prize
  • Mercury Elevator Pitch Competition Prize (Best in Energy, Sustainability)
  • An invitation to Entrepreneur Magazine's elevator pitch show

Informuta, Tulane University — $70,000

Informuta's proprietary technology leverages DNA sequencing to predict if bacteria will respond to different antibiotics or, for the very first time, develop future resistance thus causing treatment failure. The company won fourth place and a $5,000 prize sponsored by Norton Rose Fulbright, EY, Chevron Technology Ventures and Shell Ventures.

  • $40,000 Pearland EDC Spirit of Entrepreneurship Cash Prize
  • $25,000 from Finger Interests, the Anderson Family Fund at the Greater Houston Community Foundation, Greg Novak and Tracy Druce

EndoShunt Medical, Harvard University — $55,000

EndoShunt created a rapid, targeted blood flow control device to be use in emergency or trauma settings. The company won sixth place and the $5,000 prize, sponsored by Norton Rose Fulbright, EY, Chevron Technology Ventures and Shell Ventures, as well as:

  • $25,000 Southwest National Pediatric Device Consortium Pediatric Device Cash Prize
  • $25,000 from Finger Interests, the Anderson Family Fund at the Greater Houston Community Foundation, Greg Novak and Tracy Druce

Power2Polymers, RWTH Aachen University —$50,000

Tackling the challenge of forever chemicals, Power2Polymers is creating safe alternatives free of forever chemicals. The German company took third place and the $50,000 investment sponsored by Finger Interests, the Anderson Family Fund at the Greater Houston Community Foundation, Greg Novak and Tracy Druce. The company also won the Mercury Elevator Pitch Competition Prize (Best Overall).

D.Sole, Carnegie Mellon University — $30,000

D. Sole won the wild card ticket to the finals and took seventh place. The company is advancing the development of remote patient monitoring in podiatry with foot insoles designed for the early detection and monitoring of diabetic foot complications, such as ulcers and deformities. They also won $30,000 from Finger Interests, the Anderson Family Fund at the Greater Houston Community Foundation, Greg Novak and Tracy Druce.

Other prizes:

  • $25,000 New Climate Ventures Sustainable Investment Prize went to Oxylus Energy from Yale University
  • $25,000 Dream Big Ventures Latino Entrepreneur Investment Prize went to Dendritic Health AI from Northwestern University
  • $25,000 NOV Energy Technology Innovation Cash Prize went to LiQuidium from the University of Houston
  • $25,000 Urban Capital Network Diversity Investment Prize in Partnership with South Loop Venture Investment Prize went to TouchStone from University of California, Berkeley

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TMC, Memorial Hermann launch partnership to spur new patient care technologies

medtech partnership

Texas Medical Center and Memorial Hermann Health System have launched a new collaboration for developing patient care technology.

Through the partnership, Memorial Hermann employees and physicians will now be able to participate in the TMC Center for Device Innovation (CDI), which will assist them in translating product innovation ideas into working prototypes. The first group of entrepreneurs will pitch their innovations in early 2026, according to a release from TMC.

“Memorial Hermann is excited to launch this new partnership with the TMC CDI,” Ini Ekiko Thomas, vice president of information technology at Memorial Hermann, said in the news release. “As we continue to grow (a) culture of innovation, we look forward to supporting our employees, affiliated physicians and providers in new ways.”

Mentors from Memorial Hermann, TMC Innovation and industry experts with specialties in medicine, regulatory strategy, reimbursement planning and investor readiness will assist with the program. The innovators will also gain access to support systems like product innovation and translation strategy, get dedicated engineering and machinist resources and personal workbench space at the CDI.

“The prototyping facilities and opportunities at TMC are world-class and globally recognized, attracting innovators from around the world to advance their technologies,” Tom Luby, chief innovation officer at TMC Innovation Factor, said in the release.

Memorial Hermann says the partnership will support its innovation hub’s “pilot and scale approach” and hopes that it will extend the hub’s impact in “supporting researchers, clinicians and staff in developing patentable, commercially viable products.”

“We are excited to expand our partnership with Memorial Hermann and open the doors of our Center for Device Innovation to their employees and physicians—already among the best in medical care,” Luby added in the release. “We look forward to seeing what they accomplish next, utilizing our labs and gaining insights from top leaders across our campus.”

Google to invest $40 billion in AI data centers in Texas

Google is investing a huge chunk of money in Texas: According to a release, the company will invest $40 billion on cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, with the development of new data centers in Armstrong and Haskell counties.

The company announced its intentions at a meeting on November 14 attended by federal, state, and local leaders including Gov. Greg Abbott who called it "a Texas-sized investment."

Google will open two new data center campuses in Haskell County and a data center campus in Armstrong County.

Additionally, the first building at the company’s Red Oak campus in Ellis County is now operational. Google is continuing to invest in its existing Midlothian campus and Dallas cloud region, which are part of the company’s global network of 42 cloud regions that deliver high-performance, low-latency services that businesses and organizations use to build and scale their own AI-powered solutions.

Energy demands

Google is committed to responsibly growing its infrastructure by bringing new energy resources onto the grid, paying for costs associated with its operations, and supporting community energy efficiency initiatives.

One of the new Haskell data centers will be co-located with — or built directly alongside — a new solar and battery energy storage plant, creating the first industrial park to be developed through Google’s partnership with Intersect and TPG Rise Climate announced last year.

Google has contracted to add more than 6,200 megawatts (MW) of net new energy generation and capacity to the Texas electricity grid through power purchase agreements (PPAs) with energy developers such as AES Corporation, Enel North America, Intersect, Clearway, ENGIE, SB Energy, Ørsted, and X-Elio.

Water demands

Google’s three new facilities in Armstrong and Haskell counties will use air-cooling technology, limiting water use to site operations like kitchens. The company is also contributing $2.6 million to help Texas Water Trade create and enhance up to 1,000 acres of wetlands along the Trinity-San Jacinto Estuary. Google is also sponsoring a regenerative agriculture program with Indigo Ag in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and an irrigation efficiency project with N-Drip in the Texas High Plains.

In addition to the data centers, Google is committing $7 million in grants to support AI-related initiatives in healthcare, energy, and education across the state. This includes helping CareMessage enhance rural healthcare access; enabling the University of Texas at Austin and Texas Tech University to address energy challenges that will arise with AI, and expanding AI training for Texas educators and students through support to Houston City College.

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This article originally appeared on CultureMap.com.