Business/Accelerator Resources
The University of Houston Texas Golf Coast
With 14 locations, the University of Houston Texas Gulf Coast SBDC Network is responsible for providing small business assistance to 32 counties throughout Southeast Texas. If you’re in need of small business assistance, the SBDC advising staff can assist you in various stages of the business life cycle: pre-venture or early stage, startup, expansion, growth, and exit.
University of Houston Lab Incubator
Research-based startups interested in moving technologies to the next level should check out UH’s new Innovation Labs. The facility provides ready-to-use lab space designed to support chemical, materials, and life sciences startups. The Technology Bridge offers private and shared lab spaces
Southwest NSF I-Corps™ Node
The Southwest NSF I-Corps™ Node program was established in 2014 by Rice, Texas A&M University, and the University of Texas Austin, and led on Rice’s campus by the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship (Rice Alliance). This program provides the opportunity for graduate student and faculty researchers and scientists to participate in a six-week program to evaluate the commercial potential of a technology-based startup on a structured hypothesis-driven methodology.
Rice Alliance
The Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship (Rice Alliance) is Rice University’s nationally-recognized initiative devoted to the support of technology commercialization, entrepreneurship education, and the launch of technology companies. Our mission is to support the creation and success of startups and the commercialization of new technologies in the Houston community and beyond.
OwlSpark: The Rice University Startup Accelerator
OwlSpark supports tech startup teams through an immersive 12-week program designed to facilitate their launch. OwlSpark delivers Rice students, faculty, staff, and recent alumni across all disciplines a structured program that enables founders to validate and refine business models in preparation for launch. Annually, OwlSpark engages more than 100 community speakers, mentors, and subject matter experts who equip founders with necessary tech startup fundamentals and business principles.
BlueLaunch: The Rice University Small Business Accelerator
BlueLaunch is a 12-week accelerator focused on nontechnology-based small businesses, providing entrepreneurship education, mentoring, and resources. The BlueLaunch Accelerator is open to all Rice faculty, staff, students, and recent alumni. Hosted in conjunction with the University of Houston’s small business accelerator, BlueLaunch’s curriculum and mentorship will help participants crystallize their businesses in the following areas: accounting, finance, legal, marketing, and sales.
Summer Venture Studio at Lilie
The Summer Venture Studio (SVS) is open to founders from all majors, degree programs, and years of graduation, as well as students graduating the May before the program begins. We are industry and technology agnostic, as well as business structure – so whether you’re a hard tech startup looking to raise venture capital, a bootstrapped software company, or a non-profit social impact venture, the Lilie SVS has what you need to level up your founder IQ and go from prototype to production.
Rice Innovation Fellows program
The Rice Innovation Fellows program trains graduate students and support their faculty to translate research into real-world impact. Through the Rice Innovation Fellows, the Liu Idea Lab for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and Rice’s Office of Innovation will support select graduate students to spend additional research time focusing on the practical aspects of applying their research to industry needs.
Lilie Launchpad
Launchpad is an in-person, hands-on mentoring program consisting of six private workshops developed to teach you the methodologies and frameworks required to gain forward momentum on your venture. The workshops are paired with small-group roundtables (or ‘shuttles’ as we call them) designed to facilitate direct and immediate feedback on your venture iterations as well as promote accountability. At the completion of Launchpad, you have a better understanding of your business model, customers, next steps, and so much more! You’ll be prepared to compete in the Napier Rice Launch Challenge for a chance to win over $75k of equity-free funding for your venture.