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German startup Holoride, a developer of in-car VR systems for the automotive industry, has secured €10M in its Series A round of funding at a valuation of €30M. The round was led by Terranet, developers of advanced driver-assistance software (ADAS).

With this development, Par-Olof Johannesson, CEO of Terranet, will join Holoride’s Advisory Board. Terranet’s Chairman of the Nomination Committee has also undertaken to ensure that Nils J. Wollny, CEO & co-founder at Holoride, is elected to the company’s board.

Investors in this round

Besides Terranet, the Series A round saw participation from other co-investors, including a group of Chinese financial and automotive technology investors, arranged by Jingjing Xu – an investment professional specialising in partnerships and go-to-market strategies for China.

In addition, Multi-Dimensional Connectivity (MDC) Limited, an investor in the automotive industry and shareholder of Aston Martin; Schell Games, an educational and entertainment game development company in the US; and existing investor, German car manufacturer Audi, also participated in this round.

Sven Schuwirth, Senior VP Digital Experience & Business at Audi, believes, “With the upcoming market introduction of Holoride and our ambition to integrate it in our cars in 2022, we are taking the in-car experience to the next level and leverage the way of how we are delighting our customers.”

VR systems for the automotive industry

Founded in 2018 by Nils Wollny, Daniel Profendiner, and Marcus Kühne, Munich-based Holoride creates a new media category for passengers by connecting XR content with data points from the vehicle in real-time. These data points include physical feedback like acceleration and steering, traffic data, as well as travel route and time.

XR is the umbrella category that covers various forms of computer-altered reality such as Augmented Reality (AR), Mixed Reality (MR), and Virtual Reality (VR).

Holoride believes it has the potential to change backseat entertainment forever as its technology reduces motion sickness and opens up a new layer of immersion in games or educational journeys.

Use of the funds

The proceeds from this round will help Holoride to increase its headcounts, expand its offering for the content creator community, and strengthen its international position as they prepare for market launch next year.

“We are now eager to launch our next company phase and accelerate towards market launch in summer 2022,” the company mentions in a statement.

World’s first immersive in-vehicle media platform

Nils Wollny, CEO & co-founder of Holoride, says, “We are building nothing less than the world’s first immersive in-vehicle media platform. Integrating Terranet’s capabilities to generate a low latency view of the world into our tech stack can significantly enhance the Holoride experience and become our next leap forward in changing in-vehicle experiences for good.”

By processing motion and location-based data in real-time, Holoride enables the creation of content that adjusts to travel time and route in order to sync with passenger’s journey.

As for Terranet, it will work with Holoride to enhance the real-time, in-car XR experience by incorporating its sensor tech software to ensure precision, speed, and intelligence as vehicles move through their environments.

Johannesson, CEO of Terranet, says, “This collaboration enables Terranet to expand our addressable market while also getting access to the leading automotive manufacturers that will be using Holoride. Combining our ultra-fast 3D sensor technology with Holoride’s gaming and XR experiences will revolutionise the everyday car trip, providing more meaningful experiences for passengers.”

Back in 2019, Holoride integrated its technology into the 2020 Ford Explorer vehicles to plunge riders into the mysterious world of the Bride of Frankenstein. You can get on this 10-minute ride in the Bride of Frankenstein-themed Explorer by reserving a spot online.