Valhalla Capital Takes A Joyride Into The Future With holoride
It’s time to put an end to that monotonous commute. As we enter the age of Web3, we will replace car music systems and TV’s with next generation, 360 degree fully-immersive experiences. The automotive industry is rapidly undergoing a technology-driven revamp with regards to in-car entertainment and we at Valhalla Capital are excited to back one of the pioneers in this space.
German tech startup holoride is pioneering the world’s first immersive in-vehicle media platform. Holoride was founded in 2018 by Nils Wollny, Marcus Kuehne, and Daniel Profendiner in Munich, Germany. Backed by historic brands in the automotive sector such as Porsche and Audi, holoride has also collaborated with Ford and Daimler and media firms such as Universal Pictures, Disney, and the Discovery Channel.
Adding Thrill To Every Ride
Holoride takes mundane journeys and transforms them into hyper-immersive experiences by incorporating Extended Reality (XR) into navigational and car data. XR technology encompasses virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR) that enable the intermingling of the real world with virtual environments. Holoride has been able to sync XR content with real-time vehicle data points such as traffic data, acceleration, steering, and the travel route. It has leveraged XR technology to create magnificent “hyper-immersive experiences” that have the potential to significantly reduce motion sickness during car rides.
The Munich-based startup has come up with a new media category known as Elastic Content, which enables content creation that adapts to a vehicle’s motion and turns the backseat of a vehicle into a “moving theme park.” Your daily commute could potentially turn into an intergalactic expedition or an underwater adventure! Instead of dealing with an awkward conversation with your Uber driver, you could be delving into a completely different world simply through holoride’s VR headset.
In April 2021, holoride raised $12 million in its Series A funding round, leading the startup to be valued at $36 million. The funding round was led by the Swedish advanced driver assistance software (ADAS) development company, Terranet, which contributed $3.9 million. A cohort of Chinese financial and automotive technology investors, led by Jingjing Xu, and the U.S.-based educational and entertainment video game developer, Schell Games, also participated in the funding round. In the past, holoride has partnered with Schell Games to develop innovative content. Holoride will use the newly-raised funds to scout for new developers and creators and to branch out into global markets throughout Europe, Asia, and the U.S. The preparation for the summer 2022 launch for private passenger cars is in full swing.
In November 2021, holoride announced a partnership with a Swedish electric car manufacturer, NEVS, to develop innovative applications for its self-driving vehicles. Through its pre-existing partnership with Terranet, which is pioneering intelligent sensor technology, holoride will be able to integrate its XR media platform into NEVS’ PONS mobility system. The PONS mobility system is centered around an adaptive autonomous vehicle, Sango. Holoride’s technology coupled with Terranet’s versatile sensors will adapt to the motion and route of the PONS mobility system. Terranet’s object detection and classification system, VoxelFlow™, will supplement holoride’s XR technology by incorporating its vision-based sensor technology into holoride’s ecosystem. This will enable developers to take advantage of geospatial context and real-world road objects while creating content. Holoride has also joined forces with San Diego-based Qualcomm XR Enterprise Program, which offers Qualcomm Advantage Network XR technology. Qualcomm’s technology will ensure that holoride’s VR headsets are well-positioned before the long-awaited 2022 launch.
With such groundbreaking, cutting-edge technology in the works, it may not come as a surprise that holoride has won several awards and titles. It has been named “Best of CES 2019” four times and has also been accredited with being among the “100 Best Inventions of 2019” by TIME Magazine. Moreover, it is a part of the global innovation platform “STARTUP AUTOBAHN”, which is powered by Plug and Play. This year, holoride won the esteemed SXSW Pitch besides being hailed as “Best in Show.”
Accelerating Into the Future
Holoride is definitely ready to take the metaverse by storm as it has deployed Elrond’s blockchain to transform its ecosystem. Elrond is a platform on the blockchain that is built for deploying smart contracts, decentralized applications, and blockchain protocols. It uses adaptive state sharding, an efficient scaling mechanism, and uses secure proof-of-stake to achieve consensus.
Holoride’s CEO Nils Wollny stated that the startup has been working on this blockchain integration for the past few years. He is confident that leveraging blockchain technology and issuing NFTs would incentivize developers to create more content on their platforms and enable users to personalize their in-car experiences. Moreover, it would empower holoride to dole out content transparently and reward developers based on engagement time and value creation and distribution.
The startup recently announced the launch of its holoride RIDE utility token, which will be built on Elrond’s platform as well. Utility tokens are a type of cryptographic tokens that represent units of value on the blockchain and they can be redeemed to get exclusive access to products or services of the token issuer. They can also be utilized to execute smart contracts and access decentralized applications. Holoride states that its platform will allow creators to “mint unique NFT’s” in exchange for RIDE tokens. Creators will be able to purchase games and other forms of entertainment within holoride’s network along with benefits such as subscriptions and upgrades. Moreover, RIDE can be exchanged with Elrond’s own cryptocurrency, EGLD.
RIDE token will be sold on Elrond’s Maiar Launchpad where users can pre-register for the public token sale coming soon. Crypto launchpads act as efficient channels for raising capital for new projects and offer investors early access to tokens at discounted rates. Holoride plans on circulating 130 million tokens initially, capping the supply at 1 billion tokens. 200 million tokens have already been sold at a rate of $0.02 through a private sale and another 50 million have been sold publicly before the launch was announced. The startup intends on using the funds raised from RIDE tokens to create more innovative content, for overall development, marketing, and audits.
Of the RIDE tokens, 25% will be allocated to the XR ecosystem supporters and key partners and another 20% will be allotted to the contributors from the crypto community.
Now all that’s left for us to do is gear up for holoride’s token sale and the impending market launch in 2022. Holoride’s strategic partnerships can only give us a glimpse of what is to come in the future. There is no doubt that holoride is going to revolutionize in-car entertainment and pave the way for such trailblazing technology.
Make sure to follow holoride’s official accounts:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/holoride
Telegram: http://t.me/holoride
Telegram ann: https://t.me/holorideann
Medium: http://medium.com/holoride
