I don't know whether that was part of the selection criteria, and I can't tell from the quote.

The assertion of "they expressed that they specifically wanted to work with us" doesn't assert anything about the selection criteria.

Even if we parsed every word rigorously, and took it as absolute truth, it doesn't necessarily mean anything more than the usual excited to be working with you polite enthusiasm convention that many business people and creatives/talent tell each other at the start of a partnership.

It could also be an overture to establish friendliness, in context, like to delicately convey that they are not one of those people who might seem biased against some groups.

Or it could, as you suggest, be alluding to selection criteria (e.g., we need X, Y, and Z, and bonus points if the partner happens to not look like they usually do, because the org wants to appeal to and benefit from a larger pool of hackers who currently don't feel like this this event is for them).

Or maybe we can't even parse it that carefully. Where did someone say they "wanted to work with [Entropic] as a woman-owned, queer- and POC-driven engineering firm to develop an electronic badge with a gaming element for this year’s conference." What exactly did they say, and in what context.