Wayray, a startup with Russian origins which has developed “the first holographic car navigation system,” has attracted $18 million in a Series B round led by Alibaba and other undisclosed investors.
Headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, WayRay builds heads-up displays for drivers, as well as fully augmented reality and virtual reality immersive systems intended for eventual use in self-driving cars.
The technology offers wide viewing angles while requiring less space for hardware and control systems, the company says.
Industrial partnerships for global ambitions
“At the moment, WayRay is the world’s only developer that integrates augmented reality systems into cars. This gives us an advantage over traditional HUDs and provides the opportunity to collaborate with the largest global car brands,” stated company founder and CEO Vitaly Ponomarev.
In addition to the latest funding, WayRay announced a partnership with Banma Technologies, a startup funded by Alibaba and Chinese car maker SAIC Motor, to develop a car navigation and infotainment technology. This technology will be integrated into one of SAIC Motors’ models next year, the company said.
That will make it “the world’s first vehicle in production with a holographic AR head-up display,” WayRay claims.
The startup intends to provide this technology to major global car manufacturers and to release a consumer version.
Undisclosed amounts from discrete investors
In a previous round of funding which took place in November 2015, Sistema, a Russian conglomerate, and Tsertum Invest, a discrete Russian investment and construction firm, put an undisclosed amount in the company. Sistema did not take part in the latest round led by Alibaba, the Russian business daily Kommersant learned from a representative of the corporation.
The startup started drawing attention in 2013, when it won third prize at an important Russian startup contest.
That same year, the startup was praised by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev — in whom Alexey Navalny, a fierce opponent of the Russian regime, sees a hidden investor in the company via Tsertum Invest.
Having kept its research and development team in Moscow, WayRay is a resident company of Skolkovo, the international tech hub on the outskirts of the Russian capital. It is in the process of opening its first Chinese office in Shanghai.
