The Liu Idea Lab for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (Lilie) at Rice University is proud to announce the selection of six exceptional startups for its inaugural Summer Venture Studio accelerator program. These promising early-stage companies include bootstrapped ventures, award winning climate tech companies, social impact ventures and frontier research spinning out of Rice’s labs, spanning industries but sharing a commitment to hitting escape velocity with their startups.
The Summer Venture Studio (SVS) accelerator is an intensive, 12-week program designed to provide startups with the necessary resources, mentorship, and support to accelerate their growth and bring their ideas to market. The program offers a unique opportunity for entrepreneurs to work alongside industry experts, Lilie faculty and staff, and experienced mentors, as well as access to the extensive network and resources of Rice University. The Summer Venture Studio also provides participating ventures with dedicated office space at the Liu Idea Lab, and $15,000 in equity free funding for every company.
The program is designed to integrate closely with the Liu Idea Lab’s extensive curricular and co-curricular offerings, taking advantage of students’ past course and workshop experiences at Lilie. “For many of our students, Summer Venture Studio is the first time in their lives where they can take off their student or researcher hat, and be a full time founder. For the right sort of founder, at the right stage in their journey, SVS pours jet fuel on their fire,” said Kyle Judah, Executive Director of the Liu Idea Lab.
“We are thrilled to welcome these talented and driven entrepreneurs to our inaugural cohort,” said Yael Hochberg, the Head of the Rice University Entrepreneurship Initiative. “Each startup brings a fresh and innovative approach to their respective fields, and we are excited to support them as they refine and accelerate their products and go to market strategies. The Summer Venture Studio accelerator is a testament to Rice and the Liu Idea Lab’s commitment to fostering entrepreneurship and empowering the next generation of innovators from all backgrounds.”
The six startups selected for the Summer Venture Studio accelerator are:
- Helix Earth Technologies – Rawand Rasheed (PhD) created a filter that can pull humidity out of the air to lower commercial air conditioning costs and electricity use.
- Link Nonprofit – Sriya Kakarla (BA), Anoushka Rustagi (BA), Ananya Srivastava (BA), and Niamh Ordner (BA) strive to connect members of underserved communities with primary healthcare services to increase access to preventative healthcare.
- Blind Bag – Chris Frank (MBA) has created a lightweight and portable duck blind to improve the outdoor hunting experience.
- Amino – Adam Farsheed (PhD) is 3D printing aligned muscle and nerve tissues to help pharmaceutical companies test promising drugs in a faster, cheaper, and more accurate way than through animal testing
- Smockswap – Mason Galanski (MBA) and Erin Germani (MBA) designed a subscription rental service that offers smocked clothing for children ages 3 months to 4 years old.
- Tierra Climate – Emma Konet (MBA) and Jacob Mansfield (BA) are on a mission to accelerate grid-scale battery deployment by unlocking and monetizing grid decarbonization services through Carbon Avoidance Offsets sourced from grid-scale batteries.
The Summer Venture Studio accelerator will culminate in a Demo Day, held annually as a part of the Liu Idea Lab’s FIESTA kickoff festival in late August, where each startup will have the opportunity to showcase their businesses to potential investors, partners, and the wider Houston startup community. “By giving these founders a stage and a spotlight at the start of every academic year, we not only showcase these ventures that we’re incredibly proud of, but we show students from every corner of campus where they can be at this time next year, if they get started on their journey with Lilie now,” said Kyle Judah.
“We believe that entrepreneurship and innovation are vital drivers of economic growth and societal progress,” said Rice University President Reginald DesRoches. “The Summer Venture Studio accelerator is an important initiative that reflects our commitment to supporting entrepreneurship and providing our students with the knowledge, resources and networks they need to succeed in creating the next generation of industry changing companies.”
For more information about the Liu Idea Lab for Innovation & Entrepreneurship and the Summer Venture Studio accelerator, please visit https://entrepreneurship.rice.edu/rice-startup-accelerator
