Ride Vision Secures $7M to Advance AI Motorcycle Safety

Ride Vision, an Israel-based company developing an artificial intelligence-powered safety solution designed to help prevent motorcycle accidents, has announced the successful completion of a $7 million Series A funding round. The investment was spearheaded by the crowdsourcing platform OurCrowd. YL Ventures, who initially supported the company with a $2.5 million seed investment in 2018 – despite typically focusing on cybersecurity ventures – Mobilion VC, and Metagal, a manufacturer of motorcycle mirrors, also contributed to this latest funding round. The company’s total funding now reaches $10 million.

Alongside this new financial injection, Ride Vision also revealed a new collaborative agreement with automotive component supplier Continental.

“The team at Ride Vision, being passionate motorcyclists ourselves, are thrilled to be approaching our international market entry and our collaboration with Continental,” stated Uri Lavi, CEO and co-founder of Ride Vision, in a recent announcement. “This represents a significant achievement as we progress towards our goal of giving riders a genuine sense of security while they enjoy their journeys.”

The core concept behind Ride Vision’s technology is similar to the blind-spot detection systems found in many automobiles. Utilizing computer vision technology, the Ride Vision 1 system continuously analyzes the surrounding traffic environment. It delivers warnings about potential forward collisions and monitors blind spots, and also alerts the rider when maintaining a safe following distance from other vehicles. The system can also record rides, and a future feature will enable it to automatically initiate emergency calls in the event of an incident.

The company points out that the number of motorcycles – and other two-wheeled motorized vehicles – has risen during the pandemic, as individuals sought alternatives to public transportation and more affordable transportation options. In Europe, sales of these vehicles increased by 30% throughout the pandemic period.

The system’s hardware components are relatively simple, consisting of two wide-angle cameras positioned at the front and rear of the motorcycle, alert indicators integrated into the mirrors, and a central processing unit. Ride Vision holds patents related to its human-machine interface for warnings and its vision algorithms.

It is important to note that existing blind-spot monitoring systems for motorcycles are available from companies like Innovv and Senzar. Honda also possesses patents for comparable technologies. However, these alternatives do not offer the comprehensive 360-degree situational awareness that Ride Vision is developing.

Ride Vision plans to launch its products in Italy, Germany, Austria, Spain, France, Greece, Israel, and the United Kingdom in early 2021, with subsequent availability in the U.S., Brazil, Canada, Australia, Japan, India, China, and additional markets to follow.