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A consortium of some of the world’s biggest automakers is investing in a holographic head-up display technology startup.
Hyundai Mobis, the parts and service affiilate of South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Co., led a $50 million series C funding round valuing the United Kingdom’s Envisics at $500 million.
Envisics develops augmented reality head-up displays or AR HUD, an advanced display technology that some automakers are planning to install in new models in the coming years.
The fresh funding will be used to speed up the product development and delivery of displays to automakers.
General Motors will be the first automaker to feature Envisics’ second-generation AR-HUD technology in its electric Cadillac Lyriq 2024 model.
“Our collaboration with Envisics is moving into production this year, as we add AR-HUD technology to the all-electric 2024 Cadillac LYRIQ,” Sandy Lipscomb, senior manager for Ultifi Design at General Motors, said in a news release. “This innovation will further elevate the driving experience in the LYRIQ, adding a second plane of graphics that gives drivers more immersive information integrated within their natural field of vision.”
Other investors include GM Ventures, General Motors’ venture capital fund; Stellantis Ventures; Jaguar Land Rover’s InMotion Ventures; and Tarsadia Investments, a U.S. venture capital fund.
Hyundai Mobis, InMotion Ventures and Stellantis Ventures also invested in Envisics’ series B round in 2020.
“Hyundai Mobis expects to provide next-generation AR-HUDs with cutting-edge holographic technology, and to deliver an intuitive, safe, and convenient HMI to global automakers by strengthening our partnership with Envisics,” Younghoon Han, vice president and head of electronic control and convenience at Hyundai Mobis, said in the funding announcement.
In 2010, Jaguar Land Rover was the first automaker to use Envisics’s holographic technology in a head-up display.
In 2022, Envisics won a Stellantis Startup Award, winning the Automotive Tech category for the company’s work in AR-HUD.
Other investors in Envisics include China’s SAIC Motor Corp. and Van Tuyl Cos., the fifth-largest U.S. car dealership group and part of Berkshire Hathaway.