Imagine having an opportunity to take on the role of a “shark” investor on the show Shark Tank—but at the largest academic business plan competition in the world.
A select group of eight students from Spring Woods High School (SWHS) in Spring Branch ISD (SBISD) earned the distinction of being among 30 Houston-area high schoolers chosen by Eagle Investors to serve as Investment Prize Judges at the three-day Rice University Business Plan Competition (RBPC) held in mid-April.
After listening to and observing 42 graduate student teams from top business schools across the country present their ideas and business plans to professional venture capitalists, the Eagle Investors high school student cohort deliberated the pros and cons of products from seven graduate student finalists to determine which product they collectively believed was “most investable.”
The startup they chose received the $25,000 Eagle Investors award. Funded by the Goodwill Industries of Houston Foundation, this was the only prize at RBPC awarded by high school students. In total, more than $1.8 million in investment and cash prizes were awarded to graduate student startups from active investors participating in the competition.
Eagle Investors, first established by venture capitalist Mitra Miller and her two sons seven years ago, is a nonprofit program targeted to high school students attending Title I schools in the Houston area to expose them to the possibilities of innovative startups. Recently acquired by Goodwill Houston, the program expands the organization’s commitment to workforce development by integrating entrepreneurial education into the minds of youth in the Houston area.
