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Alibaba augments foothold in the car game with investment into WayRay

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By Benjamin Cher, Reporter

March 15, 2017 | 2 min read

Hot off the heels of Intel acquiring Mobileye, Alibaba augments its foothold in the car game by leading an $18m investment round for augmented reality (AR) startup WayRay.

Wayray

Alibaba augments car game with WayRay

This follows Alibaba’s first foray into cars with a partnership with China's largest automaker, SAIC Motors, to launch Roewe RX5, which featured Alibaba’s operating system YunOs according to a TechinAsia report.

The Switzerland-based startup specialises in AR products for cars, like its AR navigation system that overlays on the car’s windshield, with its fully virtual reality immersive systems for eventual use in autonomous cars.

“At the moment, WayRay is the world’s only developer that integrates augmented reality systems into cars,” said Vitaly Ponomarev, founder and chief executive officer, WayRay.

“It gives us an advantage over traditional HUDs (heads-up display) and provides the opportunity to collaborate with the largest global car brands,” he added.

WayRay is also partnering Banma Technologies, another SAIC Motors and Alibaba-backed startup, to develop new car navigation and infotainment system. WayRay Navion, an augmented reality HUD for drivers will be built into SAIC Motors’ 2018 models.

“We believe there is huge potential in the development of leading-edge technology like augmented reality and its application to various industries, like WayRay’s AR navigation system in the auto sector. The potential of augmented reality makes it an exciting and promising area,” said Ethan Xie, senior investment director, Alibaba Group.

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