2008 Rice Business Plan Competition winner qcue rings closing bell at NASDAQ

As part of winning the 2008 Rice Business Plan Competition (RBPC), Barry Kahn, CEO of qcue, along with team mates Andrew Mills, CTO and Jitendra Dalvi, CFO, rang the NASDAQ closing bell on Friday, June 13, 2008. Brad Burke, managing director of the Rice Alliance was joined by Tracye McDaniel, COO of Great Houston Partnership at the ceremony. NASDAQ officials, Jeff Kaplan, senior managing director corporate client group and Bob McCooey, senior VP capital markets introduced Burke and Kahn and invited them to ring the bell and sign the closing book.

The opportunity to ring the NASDAQ bell is one of the prizes awarded to the winning team of the RBPC. While in New York City, qcue was able to capitalize on additional benefits derived from the competition. The Greater Houston Partnership arranged a meeting with MLB and a friendly RBPC competitor brokered a meeting with the NBA. Qcue also talked with Ticket Master, as a possible strategic business partner.

To watch the video and see photos CLICK HERE

The Rice Business Plan Competition awards more than $675,000 in cash and prizes!

The 2008 Rice Business Plan Competition (RBPC) awarded more than $675,000 in cash and prizes at an awards banquet on Saturday, April 5, which nearly doubled the prizes compared to last year’s competition. The banquet marked the conclusion of the three-day RBPC, the largest and richest intercollegiate business plan competition in the world.

This year the competition was joined by FORTUNE Small Business and the competition will be featured in the May 2008 issue of the magazine and on CNNMoney.com

The event, hosted by the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship and Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management at Rice University, marked the eighth installment of the RBPC. Thirty-six of the top MBA/graduate schools from around the world presented business plans in front of a judging panel of over 170 venture capitalists, investors, and business executives. The distinguished judges were selected based on their expertise in venture capital, early-stage investing, and entrepreneurship.

The competition’s Grand Prize was valued at over $325,000 and included a $225,000 equity investment, $20,000 cash and over $80,000 of business services including office space, marketing support, and business mentoring. The Grand Prize was awarded to qcue from The University of Texas at Austin. Qcue is a dynamic pricing solution for concert promoters, sports teams, and venues. Its software application transforms existing box offices into electronic markets by implementing elements of airline pricing and NASDAQ trading to provide dynamic pricing based on market conditions, while hosting a secondary market which is seamlessly integrated with the primary market. (award winners, press release)

2009 Deadlines

Intent to Compete Due
Friday, February 13, 2009

Executive Summaries Due
Friday, March 6, 2009

RBPC Announces 36 Teams
Thursday, March 12, 2009

Teams Accept Invitation
Monday, March 16, 2009

Competition Dates
April 16-18, 2009

Success Stories

The 2006 winners of the Rice Business Plan Competition are revoltionizing the way tractor-trailers are traveling highways by improving the trucks' efficiency and reducing their impact on the environment.

Read more about other team successes since competing at the RBPC.