The AutoHarvest innovation ecosystem provides product developers access to key resources that help bring their ideas to life— intellectual property, research collaborators, smart tool providers, monetization pathways, and most importantly, commercialization partners. It is a daunting process explaining why only 50 percent of all startups reach a fifth anniversary. We are proud to recall that five years ago this month, AutoHarvest Foundation received its nonprofit status and set out to create the first truly neutral e-collaboration marketplace for advanced manufacturing technology. We did this during the Great Recession. A heartfelt thank you goes out to our Innovation Advisory Council, Board, Friends, Members, Users, College Fellows, Foundations, Team Members, Supporters and Entrepreneurs for making our fifth anniversary possible. You have given us a promising future as we serve this amazing community as you toil to make our world a better place!

Fittingly, this month we feature two accelerators, EcoMotion, for smart transportation in the heart of the “Start-Up Nation”: Israel and western Michigan’s Seamless IoT and European intellectual property experts at Patentship, highlighting opportunities with our inclusive membership of hands-on makers, facilitators and experts.

The essential skills to transact IP and deliver next-tech products are augmented by I-Hub members providing analytical software, databases, government toolkits, in-the-pulse blogs, content and video presentations of innovation leaders. In 2016, we envision a lively roster of world class events offering valuable exposure to trailblazing researchers, product development experts, intellectual property practitioners, dealmakers and corporate innovation teams.

As always, we invite all readers to join our intellectual property marketplace, free of charge, and engage the community. Join and get One-Click-Closer® to being our next success story.