They're a big deal in industrial/automotive/defense but they don't have a ton of visibility. Perhaps why they'd be interested in more outreach, Atmel and others

They're a big deal in industrial/automotive/defense but they don't have a ton of visibility. Perhaps why they'd be interested in more outreach, Atmel and others like STMicro definitely reaped benefits from engaging with hobby/educational users at probably negligible cost. Arduino has also been trying to position themselves as a legitimate friendly platform for industrial automation, so it could be a good match.