Texas A&M New Ventures Competition

May 30, 2022May 30, 2022Samantha Jo LewisLeave a comment

On May 15^th and 16^th of 2019, GOOSE participated in the Texas A&M New Ventures Competition for the second year in a row. The competition, organized by Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station, the Texas A&M University System, and a growing number of sponsors (including GOOSE), aims to promote and commercialize Texas based companies with innovative ideas. The competition recognized companies focused on emerging technologies, with high-growth potential. GOOSE and other sponsors provide cash and investment prizes to help the companies execute their ideas and advance the product development.

The prize pool for this year’s competition was the largest yet, exceeding $500,000. Twenty-two Texas startups competed for the prizes. This year, Spark Biomedical was awarded the grand prize: $50,000. Spark Biomedical is a medical device company developing non-invasive neurostimulation solutions for opioid withdrawal and addiction.

Goose members David Klein and Larry Lawson judged the competition and were very impressed with the competitors. GOOSE awarded PolyVascular a $25,000 prize with potential for more. PolyVascular is developing a polymeric transcatheter valve for children. The transcatheter polymeric valves by PolyVascular are unique, because they expand as the child grows. That eliminates the need of repeat open heart surgeries for children with congenital heart disease. In addition to the GOOSE investment prize, PolyVascular won three other awards:

1^st place in the Elevator Pitch Competition – $5,000
Biotex Investment Prize
Amerra Visualization Services Prize

GOOSE is very optimistic about the future of the company. We look forward to working with PolyVascular.

David Klein awarding the GOOSE invetment prize to PolyVascular. From the left: Chris Scotti, PolyVascular Team: Daniel Harrington – CSO, Kwonsoo Chun – CTO, Henri Justino – CMO, David Klein – GOOSE.

GOOSE Society Summer Investment Meeting

June 25, 2022June 25, 2022Samantha Jo LewisLeave a comment

This past Thursday, June 21, 2022 the GOOSE Society of Texas hosted their summer investment meeting at the Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University. The geese hosted eight companies, two special guest speakers who provided a venture capital community update and swore in a new GOOSE member!

Alex Wesley, CEO of Arovia, on stage at the Texas A&M New Ventures Competition where his company took home the grand prize.

Out of the eight companies presenting GOOSE heard from many different verticals located in 4 different geographies, including Silicon Valley, China, and of course, Houston. The industries presented were consumer electronics, artificial intelligence, robotics, medical devices, and lastly manufacturing in specialty chemicals. The GOOSE Society was pleased to have hosted Forest Devices, the 2017 Rice Business Plan Competition (RBPC) winner that is working towards the better treatment of stroke patients with their device, AlphaStroke. The group also heard from the two GOOSE Society Prize winners of the Texas A&M New Ventures Competition, Arovia and M&S Biotics.

The special attendees were Gina Luna & Russ Capper who represented Houston Exponential (HX), an independent 501C-3 organization that supports the growth of the Houston innovation economy. HX leads on the opportunities that require collaboration across the ecosystem, champions the ecosystem by telling the innovation story of the region and its firms, and it builds and attracts the resources the innovation economy needs to thrive. Along with strong momentum powered by fourteen working groups operated with over two-hundred active volunteers from over fifty major corporations, HX has achieved a major milestone with its new innovation district. This 9.4 acre, $100 million redevelopment by Rice University of the Sears building in Midtown is expected to be complete in two years and will bring a district of dense, mixed used space that attracts talent and creates collisions among entrepreneurs, investors, academics and other ecosystem players.

The GOOSE Society of Texas is also thrilled to have sworn in a new member, Cris Gaut, the Chairman and CEO at Forum Energy Technologies!

The GOOSE Society of Texas looks forward to its next investment meeting in September.

Special thanks to Blake George, GOOSE Analyst for writing this update.

GOOSE awards $60,000 in prizes at Texas A&M New Ventures Competition

May 25, 2022May 25, 2022Samantha Jo LewisLeave a comment

Thank you to TNVC for providing this press release!

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[Houston, Texas, May 25^th, 2018 ] Two companies stood out from the competition and each earned $30,000 investment prizes from GOOSE Society at last week’s Texas A&M New Ventures Competition (TNVC) in College Station. Each of these companies will also be invited the pitch to the exclusive group of super-angel investors, which comes with an opportunity to get much more funding. GOOSE judges included Louis Raspino (finals judge), David Klein, and Samantha Lewis.

Houston–based Arovia, creators of the Spontaneous Pop-Up Display (SPUD), was awarded a GOOSE Society investment prize, as well as $50,000 as the overall winner of the 2018 TNVC.

Arovia Co-Founder, President and CEO Alexander Wesley, a Rice Business Alum, said he was excited to win the competition because he doesn’t consider pitching competitions to be his specialty.

“I’m definitely not a natural pitcher, but I love our product, I love our team and the state of Texas has been really great for us as well,” Wesley said. “I definitely don’t view myself as being a stellar pitch man so I had no expectation at all, but I’m glad the enthusiasm I have for our product and our team and what we’re doing for our customers comes through.”

The second company awarded an investment prize by GOOSE was Houston-based and TMC Biodesign Alum, M&S Biotics, which is developing an autonomous internet of things solution to detect, track, count and locate surgical items within the operating room in real-time. They hope to effectively automate the surgical counting process while providing downstream analytics regarding instrument utilization by leveraging machine learning. M&S Biotics also earned $25,000 by finishing third overall in the competition.

Samantha Lewis, Director of the GOOSE Society said she was impressed with the company’s accepted into the competition and appreciates the diligence TNVC provides beforehand. “The two teams we chose were able to field the tough questions that were asked of them and clearly communicate their value proposition and traction. We also liked the Houston ties, of course!”

Both companies will also have the opportunity to pitch at the next GOOSE Society investment meeting, which can present an even bigger opportunity.

Samantha commented on what a great experience “the geese” had in College Station and is excited about growing the relationship between TNVC and the GOOSE Society. “GOOSE cares about the Texas ecosystem and TNVC is just another way we can do our part to boost entrepreneurship in the state and help startup companies.”