Ali increased AR and invested in two companies in eight days

Source: "AI Planet" (ID: ai_xingqiu), author: Wang Fei

Image source: Generated by Unbounded AI

Alibaba is stepping up again in the field of AR!

After leading an AR glasses company on July 17 to pay tribute to the unknown angel round of financing, on July 24, Ali took a stake in a similar company, Singularity is approaching.

Coincidentally, the founders of these two companies are both from Huawei.

Pay tribute to the unknown founder Zhang Huimin, the former chief architect of Huawei P6, and Wu Dezhou, the founder of Singularity Proximity, once served as the general manager of Huawei Honor product line.

As one of the earliest Internet giants in China to deploy the AR field, Ali made two consecutive shots within 8 days, which also made the outside world focus on the industry again.

IDC predicts that AR and VR headsets will continue to grow by more than 30% in the next few years, with shipments reaching 35.1 million units by 2026. In terms of the Chinese market, IDC forecast data show that the Chinese AR/VR market will maintain a high-speed growth rate of 42.2% from 2021 to 2026, surpassing the other eight regions such as the United States and Western Europe in terms of growth rate, ranking first in the world.

IDC also predicts that the total global investment in AR/VR is expected to increase to US$50.88 billion in 2026, with a five-year compound growth rate of 32.3%. Among them, the total investment in AR/VR in China will exceed US$12 billion in 2026, accounting for 24.4% of the world. The market size is second only to the United States.

Perhaps at the moment, the "singularity" of the AR industry is "approaching".

Ali speeds up and runs wildly: self-research + investment to walk on two legs

In 2016, Ali Research Institute released the "Internet of Things Research Report", which made an in-depth analysis of the VR/AR industry in a large space. It was also from this year that Ali began to make efforts in the field of VR.

Ali officially announced the establishment of a VR laboratory on March 17, 2016, and revealed the group's VR strategy for the first time.

It is reported that the laboratory's internal code name is GM Lab, and its full name is GnomeMagic Lab, inspired by the goblins who are good at inventing and creating in World of Warcraft. The first project after the establishment of the laboratory is the "Creator God" project, the goal is to unite merchants to build a 3D commodity library and realize the shopping experience in the virtual world.

Just half a month later, Taobao launched a new shopping method Buy+. Buy+ uses VR technology, computer graphics system and auxiliary sensors to generate an interactive three-dimensional shopping environment.

In addition, Ali has successively launched a variety of application scenarios based on AR technology on platforms such as Taobao and Tmall, such as makeup, clothes, and shoes.

At the Hangzhou Yunqi Conference in July this year, Ali Artificial Intelligence Lab announced the launch of the AR Open Platform and Tmall Routing M1, laying out more smart networking scenarios.

It is reported that the AR open platform will open core capabilities such as 2D recognition and tracking, 3D recognition and tracking, content production platform, and high-quality rendering engine to developers. Developers can quickly create AR content by accessing the kit, without worrying about developing algorithms, using sensors, GPU optimization and other problems. In the future, more and more industries will share the AR dividend in the era of intelligent networking.

In terms of foreign investment, Ali is also in full bloom.

As early as February 2016, Ali led the US$794 million Series C round of financing of the US AR unicorn Magic Leap, and Cai Chongxin, the executive vice chairman of the Alibaba Group board of directors, joined the Magic Leap board of directors.

Soon after, Ali invested $12 million in Israeli AR company InfinityAR. According to Globes, Ali acquired InfinityAR in 2019. The company will join Ali's Israeli machine vision research laboratory, and the transaction price may exceed 10 million US dollars.

In addition, Ali has also strengthened its control over AR hardware and software by investing in companies such as Magic Mirror Technology, Shirui Technology, and Nreal.

The approach of the singularity and the tribute to the future are Ali's latest investment in the field of AR this year.

Ex-Huawei colleagues became rivals and received investment from Ali within 8 days

Singularity Proximity Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. was established in December 2021. The legal representative is Xu Jianhai. It is committed to adopting a vertically integrated model, starting with the underlying technology of the entire link of hardware, software, and algorithms, and using continuously innovative technologies and solutions. Solution, to create a revolutionary smart glasses product that frees your hands and travels the world with one mirror.

According to public information, the founder of Singularity Approach is Zhang Huimin, the former chief architect of Huawei P6, who actually controls Singularity Approach through a limited partnership registered in Zhuhai.

According to Zhang Huimin, it is necessary to think clearly about the underlying logic of glasses and find out the unique role that glasses can play. "We believe that the most unique feature of smart glasses is that they can perceive the environment and recognize everything from the first perspective, and the instant feedback information is in front of them. At the same time, hands are free and the efficiency of helping people is doubled."

The underlying logic of product development near the singularity is "glasses 'smart'", that is, on the basis of satisfying users' daily wear, provide intelligent experience, and aim at the three basic attributes that users are most concerned about: high frequency, universal, out-of-the-box Street, in-depth innovations in weight, battery life and wearing comfort, while supporting diopter adjustment, truly realize the world with one mirror.

As early as September 2022, AR glasses company Singularity completed an angel round of financing of 100 million yuan, led by Joy Capital, followed by Matrix Partners and Huaying Capital. After that, in December 2022, it received an angel + round investment from Haier Capital.

Tianyancha App information shows that on July 24th, Singularity was about to undergo an industrial and commercial change, and the shareholder added Hangzhou Haoxing Enterprise Management Partnership (Limited Partnership), a subsidiary of Ali, with a shareholding ratio of 7.46%.

Source: Tianyancha

Currently, Zhang Huimin holds a 28.25% stake in Singularity.

Beijing Salute Unknown Technology Co., Ltd. was established in August 2022 by former Smartisan partner and former general manager of Huawei Honor product line Wu Dezhou. The team members are executives from Huawei, Bytedance, Smartisan, Lenovo and other companies.

Tianyancha App information shows that on July 7th, a business change occurred in Salute Unknown, and shareholders added Hangzhou Haoxing Enterprise Management Partnership (Limited Partnership) and many other companies. Behind Hangzhou Haoxing is Ali.

On July 17, Tribute to Unknown officially announced the completion of an angel round of financing of US$10 million, led by Ali, followed by many well-known institutions such as Niou Capital and Taiya Investment.

At present, Wu Dezhou holds 34.58% of the shares of the company through Shenhai Biotechnology (Hainan) Co., Ltd., and is the largest shareholder of the company; Ali indirectly holds 5.76% of the shares through Hangzhou Haoxing Enterprise Management Partnership (Limited Partnership).

Source: Tianyancha

It is worth mentioning that on the evening of July 25th, Tribute Unknown will hold the ARknovv brand release and new product launch conference, officially launching consumer-grade AR glasses that can be worn out.

The promotional poster states, "The world you see is only 1/2", taking you to rediscover the real world.