Next trillion-dollar blue ocean? Envisics raises $100 million in financing to explore the world of in-car metaverse.

Envisics secures $100 million in funding to dive into the in-car metaverse - the next trillion-dollar blue ocean.

With the end of this year’s CES electronics show, it is evident that consumers are concerned about the personalization, comfort, entertainment, and coolness of cars. Major car manufacturers are competing to showcase their technological advancements in these areas.

BMW Group Chairman, Zipse, stated, “Electrification and digitization are the future of cars, representing the integration of digital experiences and pure driving pleasure.”

The automotive industry is rapidly evolving in this direction, with an increasing number of demonstrations of the combination of cars with virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies. Apart from using VR and AR for in-car entertainment and social interaction, there is a growing focus on AR heads-up display (HUD) that directly relates to AR. AR HUD has become a key area of interest for car manufacturers and is considered essential for future AR applications.

Among them, Envisics, a dynamic holographic display technology development company, stands out. Its main market is augmented reality head-up displays (AR HUD), and its holographic display technology is believed to “completely change” the in-car experience. Many people believe that Envisics’ AR HUD will be the best car HUD product this year.

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01. Specializing in Car AR Platform Display Technology

Envisics is headquartered in Milton Keynes, UK, with a second factory in Detroit, USA. It was founded by Dr. Jamieson Christmas, who obtained his PhD from the University of Cambridge, focusing on making high-quality holographic displays feasible for the first time. This research laid the foundation for the later development of the dynamic holographic platform.

After completing his PhD in February 2010, Jamieson co-founded a deep technology start-up called Two Trees Photonics. It was soon discovered that holographic technology was ideal for automotive head-up displays (HUD), leading to Two Trees Photonics being given the opportunity to develop the world’s first laser holographic HUD for Jaguar Land Rover.

Over the next four years, Two Trees Photonics’ team matured the holographic technology, making it capable of surviving in demanding automotive environments. In May 2015, they delivered the first batch of vehicles equipped with holographic augmented reality displays.

In December 2015, upon realizing the potential of this technology, Two Trees Photonics was acquired by California-based augmented reality wearable device company, DAQRI.

In January 2017, DAQRI decided to separate the holography and automotive engineering teams, creating an independent entity. In February 2018, Envisics was established, with Jamieson appointed as CEO. Envisics’ goal is to redefine how people view vehicles and interact with the surrounding world.

In October 2020, Envisics completed a Series B financing round of $50 million, with participating companies including GM Ventures and Hyundai.

In March of this year, Envisics announced a $50 million Series C financing, with a valuation of $500 million, led by Hyundai Mobis, with InMotion Ventures, GM Ventures, Arcadia Investment, and Stellantis participating.

In September, Envisics completed a Series C+ financing round of $50 million. Envisics did not share the latest valuation at the end of the Series C financing, but the startup did attract new investors such as M&G Investments.

This funding will be used to work with existing customers on Envisics’ existing holographic technology, including General Motors, and to continue developing the next generation platform. Founder and CEO Jamieson Christmas stated, “The next generation platform is smaller in size and can be built into cars of various sizes and price ranges, with enhanced video capabilities.”

“Our next-generation technology unleashes more holographic potential,” he said in an interview. “We’re really on the path to achieving the ‘Star Wars’ worldview through in-car 3D experiences.”

02. Superimposed on the Real World

AR HUD, as the name suggests, is a combination of AR and HUD.

AR stands for “Augmented Reality,” which is a technology that overlays virtual information onto the real environment, allowing users to see a combination of the real and virtual through specific devices or software.

HUD stands for “Head-up Display,” which can display important information in the user’s field of vision, allowing users to see the desired information without looking down. HUD was originally used in aircraft cockpits and has since been applied in areas such as automotive, gaming, and military. HUD improves user attention and safety, providing convenience for driving, navigation, combat, and other scenarios.

The combination of AR and HUD allows drivers to see driving information within their field of vision, which also dynamically changes based on actual traffic conditions. AR HUD can also display more information to drivers, such as vehicle speed, routes, obstacles, traffic lights, etc., and can adjust the display effects based on different distances and planes.

In addition, AR HUD can improve driver situational awareness and road safety, providing support for smart cars and autonomous driving.

According to Envisics’ official website, their dynamic holographic platform combines proprietary algorithms with simpler, smaller, and more robust optical components to create holographic displays with higher magnification, superior image quality, and the ability to simultaneously display multiple distance images.

Interference-free: Envisics’ dynamic holographic platform can provide augmented reality images on multiple planes and at different distances, adapting to changes in ambient light and enhancing the driver’s view of the road ahead. Whether it’s day or night, sunny or rainy, drivers won’t perceive any distortion or be distracted, only seamless, clear images superimposed on the real world.

More flexible: The dynamic holographic platform is compact and flexible, easily adaptable to various vehicle models from different manufacturers. Since space is occupied by beams, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems, size and weight are crucial. With an ultra-high magnification ratio, it can achieve a wide field of view within a compact package, making it suitable for vehicles of various sizes around the world.

Richer images: By utilizing and controlling lasers, Envisics’ technology generates images with ultra-high definition and color saturation, providing exceptional image quality for a safer and better user experience.

Lower power consumption: Traditional display technology absorbs light and generates heat, while Envisics’ thermal efficiency design helps achieve smaller packaging. HUDs incorporating Envisics technology have higher brightness and a 50% reduction in power consumption.

More personalized: Car manufacturers can create different cockpit environments, matching the AR experience with specific vehicle models, and in the near future, matching the personal preferences of drivers and passengers, providing a more personalized experience for them.

Envisics has already established partnerships with multiple automobile manufacturers and Tier 1 suppliers, such as General Motors, Hyundai Mobis, Panasonic, etc., and plans to apply its holographic technology to mass-produced vehicles. With the development of smart cars and autonomous driving, AR HUD technology will have broader application prospects and market potential, bringing more convenience and joy to human travel.

03. The mainstream standard for future cars?

Driving on the road can be tiring and dull, but staring at the screen and turning the steering wheel in a game arcade can make adrenaline soar. AR HUD perfectly combines this entertainment and the complex information display needs brought by intelligent cabins. However, whether this cool technology can be commercially adopted on a large scale and become the mainstream standard for future cars requires consideration of the performance of capital and the market.

In fact, since Mercedes-Benz launched its mass-produced AR HUD product in May 2020, capital has been pouring into this track with an increasing trend each year. According to data from the Gyro Research Institute, there were 39 investment and financing events worldwide, with a total scale of 6.341 billion yuan during the first half of 2020 to 2023, showing a year-on-year increasing trend in both the number of financing events and the total scale.

Image Source: VR Gyroscope

Among them, Envisics’ cumulative financing amount and single financing scale performance are both good, and with more players joining the game, the AR HUD track will also enter a new competition cycle.

Image Source: VR Gyroscope

At the same time, the adoption of AR HUD is happening as automobile manufacturers are vigorously promoting advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and other forms of autonomous driving technology, such as Tesla, which recently lowered the price of its “Full Self-Driving” beta software by $3,000.

This trend will also comprehensively promote the upgrade and expansion of AR HUD technology, as AR HUD relies on ADAS autonomous driving assistance technology to provide precise autonomous driving assistance information. With the deep integration of these two technologies, AR HUD may become an important part of the overall solution for autonomous driving in the future.

For example, when autonomous driving reaches a point where human hands are completely off the steering wheel, AR HUD will present the vehicle’s operational status more intuitively in front of the driver’s field of vision, allowing the driver to have a clearer control of the surrounding environment, which undoubtedly increases the driver’s trust in autonomous driving to a great extent.

In terms of overall market performance, AR HUD seems to have entered “overdrive” mode, with major automakers laying out AR HUD on their vehicles. As of July 2023, a total of 30 models in the market are equipped with AR HUD, and the models equipped have gradually shifted from early models priced above 300,000 to models priced between 100,000 and 200,000.

Models equipped with AR HUD from 2020 to 2023

The delivery volume of AR HUD as a standard configuration in passenger cars is showing a rapid growth trend. With the maturity of the technology and the resulting cost reductions, it is only a matter of time before this technology becomes a standard feature in ordinary models. This thriving situation is also an important reason why Envisics is favored.

04. Opening the Door to the Automotive Metaverse

Today, cars are no longer just simple means of transportation to satisfy travel needs, and major car manufacturers are all striving to create a “mobile third living space” for consumers.

AR HUD creates a new intelligent interaction window between humans and cars. It can be said that in terms of user experience, AR HUD has the potential to make autonomous driving and smart cabins truly selling points.

Although its popularity and application currently face many technical challenges and the cost is still high, with the continuous maturity of technology and its application in vehicles, AR HUD is indeed slowly opening the door to the automotive metaverse.

As Series C financing is coming to a close, Envisics’ Augmented Reality Head-Up Display (AR HUD) is nearing commercialization. General Motors has confirmed that Envisics’ second-generation display will be featured in the Cadillac Lyriq electric vehicle, but has not provided any other specific details.

Dr. Jamieson Christmas had previously stated that their collaboration with General Motors on the first HUD is “definitely expected to be released this year,” and he further emphasized that Envisics is currently “working with almost everyone.” This may be an important signal for Envisics’ commercialization prospects, but we will have to wait for the specific results it delivers.

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