The competition is by invitation only; however, all submitted entries are reviewed by the Idea to Product^® Global staff, and the top technology commercialization plans are chosen to proceed to the competition.

Furthermore, the winners of the following competitions are extended an invitation to compete:

• I2P^® UT
• I2P^® Europe
• I2P^® Latin America
• I2P^® Africa
• I2P^® Italy
• Missouri-Illinois I2P Regional Competition
• I2P^® Sweden

Entries should be unique and innovative, be feasible to implement, and address an identified market need, and they must have an underlying technology component.  Teams are encouraged to focus on the benefits of their technology and its associated market potential, rather than the technical features.