Originality & ownership

• Work must be your team's own. You may use open-source libraries, APIs, and pre-trained models, but the core project — the integration, logic, and product layer — must be built by the team.
• Existing projects are welcome (the event explicitly allows this), but you must disclose what existed before May 13 and what was built during the window.
• No submissions that are primarily a wrapper around a single API call with no meaningful product layer.

AI-generated code

• Using Claude, Cursor, Copilot, or any AI coding tool is fine and expected. You're still responsible for what you submit working as demoed.

One submission per team; no team-stacking

• Each person may only be on one team.
• Each team submits one project. If you have multiple ideas, pick the strongest.

Demo video rules

• Must be a single continuous video, not a slide deck with voiceover. Show the product running.
• Hard cap at 3:00. Videos over 3:00 will be cut at the 3:00 mark during judging.
• Must be viewable without a login (unlisted YouTube, public Loom, Vimeo, or direct MP4 link all fine).
• No heavy post-production edits that misrepresent product behavior (e.g., cutting out failure states, sped-up loading times shown as real-time without disclosure).
• English audio or English subtitles required.

Live link / repo rules

• The link or repo must remain accessible from submission through June 3.
• If using a GitHub repo, the README must include setup steps and any required env vars or API keys (use placeholders, never commit real secrets).
• If the product requires paid API keys to run, note this clearly and ensure the demo video shows full functionality.
• Judges may attempt to use the live link before demo day. Make sure it works.

Project description rules

• 250–500 words, hard limits on both ends. Submissions under 250 or over 500 may be disqualified.
• Plain text or markdown only. No PDFs, no decks in place of the description.

Eligibility

• Open to anyone 18+. International builders welcome to submit, but finalists must be able to attend Demo Day in NYC on June 3 in person (no remote demos).
• Employees of Raylu, sponsors, and judges' firms are not eligible to win prizes but may participate for fun and feedback.

Confidentiality & IP

• You retain all IP in your project. Raylu, judges, and sponsors claim no rights to anything you build or submit.
• Submissions are treated as confidential among judges and organizers but will be discussed in the judging room. If your project includes sensitive IP, don't submit anything you wouldn't share with a VC under a casual NDA-free pitch.
• By submitting, you grant Raylu permission to mention your project name, team, and a short description in post-event recap content. Demo videos won't be made public without your consent.

Demo Day rules (for finalists)

• 5 minutes live demo, hard stop. 3 minutes Q&A.
• Bring your own laptop and any dongles you need (HDMI/USB-C). A backup of your demo video should be ready in case of live failure.
• Wi-Fi will be provided but not guaranteed for high-bandwidth workloads — have a local fallback if your product depends on network calls.
• One presenter on stage at a time; team members can join for Q&A.

Conduct

• No harassment, no hate speech, no content that targets individuals. Raylu reserves the right to disqualify submissions or remove attendees at its discretion.

Final decisions

• Finalist selection and winner decisions are made by Raylu and the judging panel and are final.
• Raylu may disqualify any submission for rule violations, misrepresentation in the demo video, or working code that doesn't match the submission.