"Some will focus on e-mobility, smart cities, and ride-sharing that are all in the business models of these large companies." Participating automakers include Ford, Daimler and AM General, while major suppliers include Magna, Lear and Intel. Notably, so far indications are that there's relatively little participation in the match meetings by Silicon Valley heavyweights, though venture capitalists and startups from that area are involved. In other words, the match-meetings platform is something that mainly the traditional auto industry is accessing. "We weren't sure how many people were going to be up to speed or up to date on the match meetings platform and what kind of value-add it was going to be," said Bobby Chasnis, development and operations manager for MEDC's Pure Michigan Business Connect program.

Source: Forbes January 14, 2018 14:15 UTC