I notice that Justin Van Slembrouck got to meet people from Oddment Audio who are developing the Groc, a granular synth, ( thread ) expected to be released end of this year.
He attended a presentation given on the Groc and the two companies are local. Very different synths, but perhaps ideas shared might be more useful, than if they were close competitors.
Apparently Modern Sounds shared some of what they were working on at the same event.