Participated · Series A · Sep 2021

Phiar develops an ultra-lightweight Spatial-AI Engine and Mobility AR Engine to deliver camera-based augmented-reality navigation, vision-based live road detections, HD mapping, smart parking, and traffic-condition awareness for vehicles. The company integrates its software with modern automotive chipsets including Qualcomm Snapdragon and works closely with OEMs and Tier-1 suppliers such as Nissan, Panasonic Automotive, and Bosch, as well as mapping vendors TomTom and HERE. Phiar announced a recently closed Series A to accelerate business with OEMs and Tier-1 partners and to expand go-to-market resources. Founder Chen-Ping Yu will shift to Chairman of the Board and CTO to focus on spatial-AI technology and product development while new CEO Gene Karshenboym onboards to lead global growth. The company has announced partnerships with Panasonic Automotive to integrate its AI-based navigation into automotive solutions. Phiar is headquartered in Redwood City, California and was founded in 2017. Phiar develops an AR navigation app that overlays turn-by-turn directions while using object recognition and visual mapping to build high-quality map data. The company focused on software after initially considering building hardware prior to joining Y Combinator. Its app captures up to 30 minutes of dash-cam footage per ride, providing free dash-cam utility to users and anonymized metadata for mapping. Phiar has engineered single-camera, high-speed geometry understanding and real-time occlusion so digital overlays interact cleanly with the physical world at driving speeds. The startup plans to release its free consumer app in mid-2019 and is positioning its mapping data for partners in autonomous vehicles and ridesharing. CEO Chen-Ping Yu says Phiar is in talks with automotive and ridesharing partners to integrate its technology.