Rensselaer student team Resumazing reached the semifinals at the 2015 Rice Business Plan Competition for their automated resume advice service. (l-r): Diogo Moitinho de Almeida ’13, B.S. in computer science and mathematics, and Kevin Lyman ’15, computer science, with Matt Cusack ’02, Severino Center entrepreneur-in-residence.
Resumazing, a student startup team from Rensselaer, placed in the semifinals round at the 15th annual Rice Business Plan Competition at Rice University in Houston, Texas. The team earned a fifth-place prize of $1,250 in the semifinals category and a $750 second-place prize in the Mercury Fund Elevator Pitch competition. The team competed with students from some of the world’s top universities for more than $1 million in prizes during the event held April 16-18.
Fifteen out of a total of 42 teams eligible to participate at this year’s competition made it through to the semifinals round. Nearly 400 entrants submitted a business plan to be considered to compete in the competition. The competition grouped teams among four categories: life sciences; information technology/Web/mobile; energy/clean technology/sustainability; and other.
Team Resumazing created a Web service that uses data science to help job seekers maximize their chances of landing a particular job. The team also won second place in the Rensselaer Business Model Competition held in March.
“Resumazing epitomizes solid preparation and domain expertise rooted in innovation using the principles of disciplined entrepreneurship and lean startup,” said Matt Cusack ’02, entrepreneur–in–residence at the Paul J. ’69 and Kathleen M. Severino Center for Technological Entrepreneurship. “They developed a new solution with a strong social and global impact.”
Resumazing team members include Kevin Lyman ’15, computer science; Shankar Rao ’15, computer and systems engineering; Trevor Phillippi ’15, electronic media and communications; Jordan Dunne ’17, computer science; and Diogo Moitinho de Almeida ’13, B.S. in computer science and mathematics.
Resumazing epitomizes solid preparation and domain expertise rooted in innovation using the principles of disciplined entrepreneurship and lean startup.”—Matt Cusack ’02
“The mentorship and resources we have received from the Severino Center have been integral to our success as a company,” said Lyman. “The value they place on customer discovery has helped us to continually refine our business model and truly make Resumazing a great product.”
More than 150 former Rice Business Plan competitors have gone on to successfully launch their ventures and are still in business today, and another 13 have successfully sold their ventures. Past competitors have raised in excess of $1.3 billion in funding and created more than 2,000 new jobs.
More than 140 corporate and private sponsors support the business plan competition, which includes 275 judges from the investment sector and awards more than $1 million in prizes.
More information about Resumazing.
More information on the 2015 Rice Business Plan Competition.