Quick Take: Alibaba Invests in Swiss Augmented Reality Navigation Startup WayRay

China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding has led an $18 million round of investment in Swiss augmented reality road navigation developer WayRay, which has created a patented head-up display to show computer generated graphics and alerts on a car’s windshield.

WayRay has forged a deal with internet-connected carmaker Banma Technologies to employ its head-up display system in Banma’s 2018 model. Banma is a joint venture between Alibaba and state-owned SAIC motors.

The investment is Alibaba’s latest inroad into augmented and virtual reality. Early last year, the tech giant led a $793 million round of financing in U.S. startup Magic Leap, which is developing a reality simulation product. It has also bet on Israeli Infinity Augmented Reality, a maker of training systems and games.

Alibaba has also been experimenting with augmented reality and virtual reality in e-commerce, introducing a virtual reality shopping campaign last year during Singles Day, the nation’s largest online shopping event.  

Contact reporter April Ma (fangjingma@caixin.com)