More news about the Rice Business Plan Competition. FORTUNE Small Business has just signed on as the national media sponsor! Check out the press release below. The collaboration with FORTUNE will be great for the Competition.
FORTUNE Small Business Joins Forces with the Rice Business Plan Competition
FORTUNE to build on “world’s largest” Competition
HOUSTON – March 6, 2008 – FORTUNE Small Business is joining forces with the Rice Business Plan Competition (RBPC) as national media sponsor.
FORTUNE Small Business, who for several years hosted their own business plan competition, announced they are teaming up with the RBPC in 2008 to further enhance the already prestigious $600,000 international competition hosted by the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship (Rice Alliance) and the Jones Graduate School of Management at Rice University in Houston. The 2008 Competition will be held on April 3-5, 2008.
“Our goal is to promote small business and a big part of that is helping entrepreneurs realize their dreams. Small businesses are the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. economy and contribute the largest amount of job growth and wealth creation,” said Brian Dumaine, editorial director, FORTUNE Small Business Magazine. “We want entrepreneurs to know that there are exceptional networking and investment opportunities out there for great business ideas and those offered through the RBPC are second to none. We also want to introduce FSB readers to some of the most promising business students and ideas in the country.”
The RBPC is the largest and richest intercollegiate MBA/graduate-level business plan competition in the world. Prize money nearly doubled in 2008 to more than $600,000 and the number of teams applying to enter the competition increased from 75 to more than 230 teams vying for the thirty-six slots.
The 230 teams from around the world were pared down to 36 and invited to compete in the three-day competition, April 3-5. Teams compete for cash and prizes in the elevator pitch and business plan competition that simulates the real-world process of entrepreneurs soliciting start-up funds from early stage investors and venture capital firms. More than 160 judges consisting of successful entrepreneurs, investors and business leaders provide valuable feedback to the presenters.
“FORTUNE Small Business is one of the best known national publications for business and it is a perfect match for the Rice Business Plan Competition, which in only eight years, has grown to become the largest and richest competition in the world. Over 65 past competitors at Rice have gone on to launch their new ventures, which is perfectly aligned with the mission of FSB,” said Brad Burke, managing director of the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship. "This partnership with FSB will provide national exposure and opportunities for the teams that compete at Rice."
As a national media sponsor, FORTUNE Small Business will publish an article about the competition and profile top competing teams. The magazine — a joint venture by the Fortune Group at Time Inc. and American Express Small Business Services — is delivered to one million small-business owners, and because it appears online also, the article will generate even more national and international attention to the Rice competition.
About the RICE ALLIANCE:
The Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship (Rice Alliance) is Rice University’s flagship initiative devoted to the support the creation of technology-based companies and the commercialization of new technologies. The Rice Alliance provides entrepreneurs with a collaborative network and forum for support, education, and exchange of ideas. It offers entrepreneurs access to the human and financial capital needed for success.
Since its inception in late-1999, the Rice Alliance has assisted in the launch of over 210 new technology companies, which have raised more than $350 million in early stage funding. Of these, approximately twenty companies have been launched based on technology developed by Rice faculty and researchers.
The Rice Alliance was recognized as the #1 university entrepreneurship center in the United States in 2007 for “Enterprise Creation”, the creation of new businesses, by the National Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers. Also in 2007, the Princeton Review ranked Rice University among the top 25 graduate entrepreneurship programs in the United States.
About FSB:
FORTUNE Small Business is a general interest business magazine published ten times a year as a joint venture by The FORTUNE Group at Time Inc. and American Express Small Business Services. Each issue provides hard-hitting, informative coverage of the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. economy — small business. FSB is delivered to 1 million small business owners. Time Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Time Warner.
About the Fortune|Money Group:
The Fortune|Money Group is the leading source for business news and information, reaching 20 million unique individuals through a world-class collection of publications including FORTUNE, Money, FSB: FORTUNE Small Business and the website CNNMoney.com.
###
For more information about the 2008 Rice Business Plan Competition and Team Sponsorship Opportunities, contact:
Mary Lynn Fernau
Marketing Director
Rice Alliance for Technology & Entrepreneurship
713-348-5374