BRCĒ, a material-tech startup from Michigan State University in East Lansing, won 11 prizes including the $200,000 grand prize at the recent Rice Business Plan Competition (RBPC) staged by Rice University in Houston. The company’s RBPC winnings totaled $611,500.
BRCĒ’s technology replaces failure-prone textiles with polymer composites engineered for strength, fire resistance, and intrinsic stability.
Its patented Lattice-Grip technology enables directional grip and controlled tension at the yarn level, eliminating slippage and performance loss under extreme conditions.
BRCĒ (pronounced “brace”), began as a simple idea for better shoelaces. It was founded by CEO and computer science junior Madhav Aggarwal, who initially worked on the idea alone before bringing on co-founder, COO, and computer science senior Tanvi Gadamsetti.
The company’s name was inspired by braces. Just as braces hold teeth together, BRCĒ aims to provide durable, performance-enhancing footwear accessories.
Among the major prizes BRCĒ took home from the event included:
- $200,000 Goose Capital Investment Prize
- $100,000 The OWL Investment Prize
- $100,000 Houston Angel Network Investment Prize
- $75,000 The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) Texas Angels Investment Prize
- $50,000 nCourage Investment Network’s Courageous Women Entrepreneur Investment Prize
- $25,000 New Climate Ventures Sustainable Investment Prize
- $20,000 Aramco Innovator Cash Prize
A total of $75,000 in in-kind legal services were awarded to all finalists with the Baker Botts Prize. The grand prize winner receives a chief financial officer consulting prize worth $40,000.
In his winning remarks, BRCĒ’s co-founder and CEO Madhav Aggarwal credited watching a fellow MSU alum win the 2024 RBPC as the spark for his own entrepreneurial journey. From there, the team began competing in smaller competitions to sharpen their pitch and build momentum with the goal of ultimately making it to the “Super Bowl of Student Entrepreneurship” at Rice.
This year’s RBPC saw 42 startups compete for more than $1.3 million in investment and nondilutive cash prizes and an additional $110,000 in in-kind value April 9-11 at Rice University and in Houston’s Ion District.
Other universities represented included the University of Michigan, Arizona State University, the University of Texas, the University of Arkansas, Rice, the University of Notre Dame, Texas A&M University, City University of New York, the University of Pittsburgh, and McMaster University.
U-M’s BiliRoos won the $25,000 Southwest National Pediatric Device Consortium Pediatric Device Cash Prize.
The RBPC is said to be the world’s largest and richest intercollegiate graduate student startup competition, hosted annually by the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship and presented by Rice Business. The event serves as a global stage for emerging ventures from leading universities — this year’s invited startups represented 39 universities from four countries.
The 26th annual competition brought together more than 300 angel investors, venture capitalists, corporate leaders, and entrepreneurial ecosystem partners, creating an unmatched environment for investment, mentorship and connection. Teams pitched their cutting-edge solutions in categories, including energy, cleantech, and sustainability; life sciences and health care; hard tech; digital enterprise; and consumer products.
The full list of winners and prizes can be found at rbpc.rice.edu.
