Startup Houston

After what we reported on here, it is refreshing to see the Rice Alliance getting some of the national recognition they deserve.  Now it’s one thing to be included in a group of your peers, but it is another thing entirely to be named #1.  The Rice Alliance was recognized as “the leading university entrepreneurship center in the United States for the creation of successful new enterprises by the National Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers (NCEC) on October 6, 2007 in Syracuse, New York.”  The Rice Alliance received this award because ”In addition to supporting new technology-based companies, the Rice Alliance organizes the annual Rice Business Plan Competition, which has rapidly grown to become the largest and richest intercollegiate business plan competition in the world, with more prize money, teams, and judges than any other competition. In 2007, 36 of the top graduate schools from around the world competed for more than $345,000 in total cash and prizes in front of a selective judging panel of more than 150 individuals.  More than 30 new ventures have been launched after competing at the Rice Business Plan Competition.”

Entrepreneur Magazine and the Princeton Review also just recognized Rice University’s Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management as one of the Top 25 graduate entrepreneurship programs in the U.S.  (keep in mind that Harvard did not make the Top 25, Stanford did not make the Top 25, even M.I.T. did not make the Top 25).  I think this makes quite a statement about how well a job that Houston is doing to help promote entrepreneurship in Houston.

Finally, if you want to see some of the great things that Rice University is bringing to Houston’s entrepreneurial community, make sure to attend the Rice Alliance’s I.T. and Web 2.0 Venture Forum on Thursday, Nov. 8th.   You can find out more and register here.