Alibaba Group Holding has led an USD18 million funding round in a Swiss developer of augmented reality (AR)-enabled car navigation systems. The Switzerland-based start-up WayRay said it had closed the USD18 million Series B financing led by Alibaba, after spending USD10 million to create a patented technology for transparent holographic displays. WayRay also announced it had entered a partnership with China’s Banma Technologies, an Alibaba-backed internet-connected car maker, to develop a new AR car infotainment system, which is expected to be a combination of AR navigation, driving assistant notifications, a virtual dashboard and more features. It will be built into one of Banma’s 2018 car models, which may become the world’s first vehicle in production with a holographic AR head-up display. The AR head-up display is expected to improve safety as the navigation information, warnings and traffic data are placed right on the windscreen. At the moment, WayRay is the world’s only developer that integrates AR systems into cars. Vitaly Ponomarev, Founder and Chief Executive of WayRay, said the company aims to sign contracts with major global car manufacturers in 2017 to implement its ground-breaking infotainment system.