Holoride's founders say they've filed "for insolvency" after an investment round fell apart.
The startup built a platform to present VR headset as in-car entertainment with demos offered at trade shows like CES showing off the concept and a partnership with Audi to sell it to for use in cars in Germany. Holoride CEO and co-founder Nils Wollny acknowledged making mistakes in a post on LinkedIn, that “pioneering is painful” and they "missed our first shot."
David Heaney
Responding to questions from UploadVR, Wollny explained over direct message that some employees had been laid off “in February this year based on a new strategic direction. Our team's right-sizing was also based on terms we had agreed on with our planned lead investor.”
“While our business operations continue, we are working with the provisional insolvency administrator to find a solution by the end of June to ensure the continued existence of holoride GmbH and conclude our strategic repositioning, which we have intensively worked on.”
“Despite the challenges, we see the current proceedings as an opportunity. Discussions with potential investors and buyers will take place in the next few weeks, and we'd be happy to entertain any inquiries from interested parties to find the best possible setup for holoride's future.”
With Apple's visionOS having a Travel Mode built-in and Meta working on this for Quest's Horizon OS too, the market for a bespoke solution like Holoride may be narrower than its founders once hoped.
