I buy stocks from near companies. I keep contacts from people in R&D. Some companies do partnership on research with universities. So you can easily network an

I buy stocks from near companies. I keep contacts from people in R&D. Some companies do partnership on research with universities. So you can easily network and hear about their public projects. But be very careful if you intent to create a full portfolio with all companies in the same place, it's very risky (I do it because Switzerland is a small country)