Md Salman Rahman’s big idea involves artificial intelligence and systems which allow patients to upload their medical reports. 

Rahman envisions his product, HealthAl, training people how to use algorithms to read the reports in helping to detect diseases. It’s a brilliant concept with soaring ambitions but Rahman, a UTRGV graduate student, lacked the entrepreneurial and business experience to take such a technological-heavy product to the marketplace.

Rahman’s product development got a big boost from the Center for Innovation and Commercialization, which is part of the Robert Vackar College of Business at the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley. The CIC was there to help Rahman hone his ideas and see the potential of commercializing his product. He would take the guidance given by CIC to then compete in the Blackstone LaunchPad Big Idea Competition.

Once there, Rahman was successful, with Blackstone naming him one of four national grand prize winners. He lauded the CIC for its support.

“The advice was great,” Rahman said in a UTRGV press release. “My strengths are mainly in research. Having the CIC’s guidance truly helped me grow in my entrepreneurial and scholarly journey.”

At the CIC offices in Weslaco, the director, Laurie Simmons, spoke of “creating simple pathways” for aspiring entrepreneurs like Rahman. The UTRGV graduate student in Simmons’ view is clearing one big hurdle. There’s a likely market for his product.

“We tell people that their time and effort are the most important things you have,” Simmons said. “You don’t want to waste your time and effort on something no one wants.”

Leveraging Resources

Simmons launched the CIC in 2015. It was also the year that UTRGV came to be with the merger of UT-Pan American and UT-Brownsville.

The Harlingen native has a marketing and advertising background to go with being a regional director for an emerging technology center during the administration of Texas Gov. Rick Perry. She was in need of a new challenge and job after the disbanding of Perry’s program when he left office. She described how she went about “creating my next job” which could utilize her background in fundraising, marketing and working with budding entrepreneurs in building the CIC from the ground up.

Simmons and her staff work out of Mid-Valley space in an office building UTRGV leases from the city of Weslaco and its EDC. The dean of the college of business in 2015 tasked Simmons with finding a location in the middle of the Valley. The challenge of funding the center began after that goal was met. Her experience with grant funding came in handy as Simmons then built up the resources to get the center going.

Seven years later, the center is in full gear with its mission. It is assisting entrepreneurs with the development of ideas while accelerating their ventures toward reaching markets. The CIC also seeks to develop the next generation of Valley entrepreneurs. It offers competitions and events where students can test their business plans and projects before panels of experienced business people and professionals. The center also wants to be a gathering point of information about the growing services in “the entrepreneurial ecosystem” being offered by the university, economic development corporations and chambers of commerce. 

“We want to leverage the resources that are out there,” Simmons said of the various business incubators, start-up money, low-interest loans and improvement grants offered by, among others, EDCs across the Valley. “We’re trying to demystify the process.”

Testing Ideas & Plans

The CIC has signature events that are open to UTRGV students, faculty, staff and the general public

The CIC hosts the Rafael Munguia Business Plan Competition every spring. It’s a months-long process that culminates with 10 students and 10 general category participants presenting in person to a panel of experienced entrepreneurs, and business executives and owners. Winners then receive prizes ranging from $500 to $1,500.

There’s the Big Idea Competition of which Rahman competed in and was among its biggest winners. The entries must be ideas and not existing businesses currently generating revenues or receiving funding or financing of any kind. This competition also offers prizes, ranging from $500 to $3,000. It’s what the CIC calls “the ideation, development and acceleration of new business ventures.”

“We want to help them through their journey,” Simmons said.

For budding entrepreneurs like Rahman, the CIC is doing just that, and its successes are thus being recognized. In October 2020, the CIC received a $1.3-million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration to bolster its innovation and competitiveness programs. In utilizing this grant, the CIC joined with the UTRGV’s Entrepreneurship and Commercialization Center in Brownsville in working collaboratively to benefit the entire region.

“This is our region and we’ve become a very mobile region,” Simmons said. “People are willing to travel for the resources they need. We want to help grow businesses and keep them here in the Valley.”