Three veteran-owned businesses were awarded prize money during the 2021 Rice University Veterans Business Battle held in late April.
During this year's event, 16 veteran-owned businesses from around the United States pitched their ideas before a panel of investors. Ultimately, five finalists competed for $30,000 in prize money at the seventh-annual pitch competition.
Austin-based Parasanti, a tech startup that uses data analytics to help farmers and ranchers improve production, took first place at the 2021 competition. Parasanti, founded by Army veteran Max Adams, was awarded a $15,000 prize.
Boston-based Candelytics took home second place and a $10,000 prize. Candelytics develops an artificial intelligence-powered software platform to collect, analyze and manage 3D Lidar data.
Austin-based RavensEye was awarded the competition’s third-place prize with $5,000. The company develops a Digital Accessibility for Employment Certification course to assist the visually impaired in training for jobs in the technology field.
“Even in the midst of the pandemic, these veterans have been finding new ways to adapt to the changing environment and overcome obstacles,” said Matt Wilson, co-chair of the Veterans Business Battle. “We look forward to seeing how all of our competitors continue to grow their businesses in the coming years.”
Since its founding in 2015, Rice University’s Veterans Business Battle has awarded more than $4 million in investments to veteran-owned businesses. The veteran-owned business competition is sponsored by The William Stamps Farish Fund, Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB), Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX), NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG), Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX), Allegiance Bank (Nasdaq: ABTX), Capital CDC, Jones Day, and Molly and Jim Crownover.
Earlier in April, Rice University held its annual Rice Business Plan Competition, one of the largest student startup competitions in the world. SwiftSku, a management and analytics software provider out of Auburn University, was awarded the RBPC's $350,000 grand investment prize. Candelytics took home the fourth-place prize at this year's RBPC.
Although none of the teams that placed were from local universities, there were some Texas teams among the other prize winners in this year's RBPC:
- Ai-Ris, Texas A&M University: $20,000 Silver Fox Advisors Mentoring In-Kind Prizes
- BruxAway, University of Texas at Austin: $20,000 Silver Fox Advisors Mentoring In-Kind Prizes
- Karkinex, Rice University: $20,000 Silver Fox Advisors Mentoring In-Kind Prize
Also in late April, the H. Albert Napier Rice Launch Challenge Startup Competition, Rice’s internal startup competition, awarded cash prizes to Rice-affiliated student teams. The alumni teams will compete in June.
