Rice University and Google Partner to Launch AI Venture Accelerator in Texas

Rice University and Google Public Sector have announced a groundbreaking partnership to launch the Rice AI Venture Accelerator (RAVA), designed to drive early-stage AI innovation and commercialization. This collaborative initiative aims to connect AI-focused startups with leading enterprises in healthcare, energy, transportation, and the public sector to drive AI-powered solutions for pressing industry challenges.

 What is RAVA?

RAVA represents a significant step in Rice’s commitment to innovation and advancing AI research while supporting the growth of the Houston innovation ecosystem. The program, which was announced on Tuesday, is designed to provide crucial resources to ensure that AI solutions are not only developed but also deployed at scale, potentially transforming industries and advancing technology globally.

The new Rice AI Venture Accelerator will be led by Rice Nexus, which launched earlier this year in Houston’s Ion District as an AI-focused “innovation factory.” RAVA will utilize Google Cloud technology and collaborate with venture capital firm Non Sibi Ventures to connect high-potential AI-focused startups with public and private sector organizations.

 The Goals of the Partnership

In an increasingly AI-driven world, the RAVA team acknowledges the critical need to balance speed of innovation and security. The accelerator aims to create an ecosystem where founders can be both bold and responsible by bringing the simplicity, security, and intelligence of Google Cloud’s approach to their startups.

According to Sanjoy Paul, executive director of Rice Nexus, “This hub enables AI startups to go beyond building minimum viable products that meet industry privacy standards by utilizing the latest AI technologies from Google Cloud. Our goal is to maximize the return on investment for our corporate partners, driving meaningful innovation that will have lasting impact on their industries.”

 How Google and Rice Will Collaborate

Through this collaboration, participating startups will gain direct access to Google Cloud’s AI experts, cloud computing, and sandbox services. Google Cloud will provide a full-stack AI, data, and security sandbox environment that will enable AI-first startups to rapidly prototype, scale faster, and save money.

RAVA partners will have exclusive access to Google Public Sector’s leadership in AI and machine learning research, cloud computing, and AI-focused sandbox services. Google Cloud will provide the necessary technology to help AI startups build minimum viable products rapidly and scale those solutions for deployment across industries, including leading-industry technology around cybersecurity, AI-optimized infrastructure, and valuable datasets.

In addition to Google’s contributions, partners will benefit from Rice’s top AI researchers, who bring expertise from the Ken Kennedy Institute and the Houston innovation ecosystem.

 Key Technologies and Resources

The AI-optimized sandbox provided by Google Cloud will include several capabilities:

• AI tools including automated provisioning and management of environments tailored to industries such as healthcare, energy, transportation, and public sector
• Access to Google Cloud’s differentiated data sets like AlphaFold and fully managed services like Healthcare Data Engine, Google Earth Engine, and Google Maps
• AI-infused accelerators, including GPUs and Google Cloud’s custom-design processors
• Multi-agentic AI framework and a unified development platform via Google Vertex AI Platform

Additionally, the partnership will provide data and analytics capabilities including modernized API management via Apigee to build, manage, and secure APIs, as well as business and embedded analytics via Looker to explore and share insights in real time.

Security features will include Google Security Command Center, including Model Armor, as well as Sensitive Data Protection to protect LLM models and data sources against unauthorized exposure, prompt injections, and jailbreak attacks.

 Leadership Perspectives

“We are thrilled to announce the launch of the Rice AI Venture Accelerator in partnership with Google Public Sector,” Rice President Reginald DesRoches said. “This collaboration builds on Rice’s decades-long history of innovation and aligns perfectly with our mission to transform breakthrough research into real-world impact. Through RAVA, we are creating an ecosystem where industry leaders can access the next generation of AI-driven solutions.”

“Google Public Sector is excited to partner with RAVA to build an AI Innovation Hub that will enable startups to accelerate innovation and solve the most complex challenges across different industries. Through our collaboration, we are hoping to help startups to do more with less and to effectively adapt to rapidly changing environments,” said Reymund Dumlao, Google Public Sector Director of State & Local Government and Education.

Going Forward With CinchOps

At CinchOps, we’re excited about the potential of this collaboration to accelerate AI innovation and deployment. We’ll continue to monitor the development of RAVA and provide regular updates as the initiative progresses and begins to showcase its impact on AI startups and industry solutions. Stay tuned for future reports on successful ventures emerging from this promising partnership between Rice University and Google Public Sector.

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Rice University and Google Public Sector partner to build an innovation hub in Texas

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