Herzliya, Israel, November 16, 2020－Ride Vision, the collision-aversion technology (CAT™) provider, announces the international launch of its AI-driven, safety-alert system technology to prevent motorcycle collisions on the road. Ride Vision’s safety push is buttressed by $7M in Series A funding, totalling $10M to-date, as well as a partnership with the automotive giant Continental AG.
The funding round was led by OurCrowd, with participation of YL Ventures, an international venture capital firm focused on early-stage startups, Mobilion VC, a smart mobility venture capital fund with a strong aftermarket distribution network; Metagal, a leading automotive mirrors manufacturer for motorcycles (such as Honda).
There are over 700M motorcycles on the road around the world, which account for 28 percent of all fatal road accidents, and cost for some countries up to 4.1 percent of the domestic GDP, each year. Moreover, as the pandemic has reduced public transit use, people are considering motorcycles and other motorized two-wheeled vehicles as viable alternatives, with two-wheeled vehicle sales rising by 30 percent on average across the EU during COVID-19. Ultimately, more riders means more potential accidents. Ride Vision’s technology, however, can help riders be more aware of their surroundings and cut down the number of accidents.
Ride Vision uses a combination of image-recognition and AI technologies to power its solution, the first of its kind. The company’s patented human-machine warning interface (HMI) and predictive vision algorithms help riders make critical life-saving decisions in real time. The hardware includes two wide-angle cameras mounted on both the front and rear of the vehicle, unique alert indicators placed on the mirrors, and an onboard main computing unit that stores Ride Vision’s patented algorithms. Together, they deliver:
- 360-enhanced safety: Riders are given forward collision, distance-keeping (proximity), blindspot, and dangerous overtake alerts via the indicators located on their mirrors, saving precious seconds that make a difference between an accident and arriving safe to their destination. Ride Vision’s distance-keeping alert makes sure riders maintain a safe distance from the vehicle in front of them, regardless the speed of travel, while collision alerts account for road conditions, time to impact, and vehicle speed.
- Ride data recording: Within the Ride Vision app, users can access ride summaries, which contain cumulative reports, including total distance, total alerts, and max speed data. This data can be exported for personal use, such as fuel-consumption calculations or even insurance-rate reduction inquiries. The data is stored on the riders’ mobile device and is not being shared with anyone else.
- Product roadmap: Since Ride Vision is a technology platform, periodical upgrades will be made available with new safety alerts and features like the Emergency Call (eCall) following an accident, Forward-Side Collision, Rear Collision Alerts, and even creating fun videos with embedded riding stats to share with friends.
Ride Vision’s board of advisors includes a number of automotive industry veterans, namely Continental Head of Advanced Engineering ADAS Christian Weber; former BMW-Motorrad Executive VP of Motorcycle Engineering, Prof. Karl Viktor Schaller; and Energica Motor Company S.p.A., CEO Livia Cevolini.
“As motorcycle enthusiasts, we at Ride Vision are excited at the prospect of our international launch and our partnership with Continental,” Uri Lavi, CEO and Co-Founder of Ride Vision, says. “This moment is a major milestone, as we stride toward our dream of empowering bikers to feel truly safe while they enjoy the ride.”
“We are proud to be leading this investment round in Ride Vision,” says Jon Medved, OurCrowd CEO. “This company has both a cutting edge product for this huge underserved market, and the ability to save so many lives. It doesn’t get better than this.”
“I’m very excited to join the Ride Vision advisory board. Saving lives and reducing road accidents using technology has always been my passion and Ride Vision’s technology gets us closer to saving riders’ lives all over the world”, says Christian Weber, Head of ADAS at Continental.
“It is an honor to have been chosen by Ride Vision as a board member advisor,” says Livia Cevolini, CEO Energica Motor Company S.p.A. “Technology combined with rider’s safety has always been one of the cornerstones of our business. Sharing skills and experience can only lead to technological growth aimed at life-saving innovation.”
The company’s products will be available in several European countries starting early 2021; namely Italy, Germany, Austria, Spain, France, Greece, Israel, and the UK. Its products will also be available in the U.S. and Brazil, Canada, Australia, Japan, India, China, and others.