Developing a product or proposition in a market without experience in that particular market requires approaching similar companies. Even though your solution may be considered as a threat to them, or inversely, you may consider theirs as threats to yours, building a connection with those companies is crucial.
Getting familiar with all the ins and outs of a market or industry takes much time. Building a network to leverage all by yourself is quite the challenge.
Being part of an ecosystem facilitates building an ecosystem.