If you meet the criteria, apply! I was on Startup Row in 2011 and it changed my life. Even if you're not part of Startup Row, do visit the startups there. I met many interesting companies while everyone was in talks and the exhibit hall was empty.

jnoller, What's the thing at the end of Pycon where people showcase their projects built with python? It's like the science fair of python projects?

You are probably thinking of the Poster Session: https://us.pycon.org/2013/posters/

Proposals are being accepted through January 16th. I had a poster in it last year and had some really good talks with people. It's a pretty cool environment.

Both lightning talks and posters can serve this purpose.

Why the seed stage only criterion?

We prefer to showcase the smaller / bootstrapped / cash strapped startups over those with more capital. For the latter group, we offer 50% discounts (https://us.pycon.org/2013/sponsors/prospectus/) on Silver and Gold Pycon sponsorships (a steal, when you factor in how much you're saving on conference registration).

The goal is to find small, python oriented promising startups and give them visibility they might not otherwise be able to afford.

that's fair. and noble. Anyone with more than 100k can afford to buy such publicity.

Well - if you look at Gold and Silver sponsorship alone, Silver is 2000$ for companies under 25 employees, Gold is 4000$. Many companies - not even startups - take advantage of these discounts.

These discounts to SMBs is part of the PyCon 10 year heritage, and we're proud to be able to do it year after year.

I've just applied, and it seems like an exciting prospect. Are you going to decide on a rolling basis, or only after the February 10 deadline?

Only after the deadline to be fair.