Phiar

Phiar (pronounced "fire"), also referred to as Phiar Technologies, developed an intelligent AR navigation platform for driving that runs on smartphones and in-vehicle displays. Its core technology is an ultra-lightweight road-understanding AI that operates entirely at the edge and in real time on smartphone-level compute, combining computer vision and deep learning to interpret the road scene and overlay navigation guidance. The company stated its mission as enhancing driving safety, making wayfinding more intuitive, and connecting drivers with their surrounding environments.

The company was founded in 2017 and participated in Y Combinator's Summer 2018 batch. It raised $3 million in seed funding announced in November 2018 to build a computer vision and deep learning navigation app for smartphones, targeted for release in mobile app stores in mid-2019, and closed a $12 million Series A in September 2021, at which point it named Gene Karshenboym, formerly Google's Global Head of Android Automotive Platforms, as CEO. In January 2022 it was reported to be working with Qualcomm Technologies to bring AI-powered road perception and AR navigation to video- and HUD-based automotive in-vehicle infotainment environments. Y Combinator lists the company's status as acquired, and a December 2022 report describes Google acquiring Phiar in connection with its automotive ambitions.

A separate and unrelated Phiar Corporation, spun out of the University of Colorado in 2001 to develop metal-insulator tunnel diodes, is a different company and is not part of this profile.

Founding story

The company was founded in 2017 by Chen-Ping Yu, who holds a PhD in Computer Science from Stony Brook University and was previously a postdoctoral research fellow at Harvard University, with more than ten years of research in computer vision, machine learning and AI published in venues including ICCV, ECCV, NeurIPS and PNAS, and honors including National Science Foundation recognition.

Business model

Phiar positioned its AR navigation software as a platform for automotive applications, with technology aimed at smartphones as well as video and heads-up-display-based in-vehicle infotainment systems, indicating engagement with automotive brands, OEMs and system suppliers alongside a planned consumer mobile app.

Traction

Reported milestones include $3 million in seed funding (2018), a $12 million Series A (2021), a team size of 12 reported by Y Combinator, and a collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies for automotive in-vehicle infotainment reported in January 2022.

Latest developments

In September 2021 Phiar closed a $12 million Series A and appointed Gene Karshenboym, previously Google's Global Head of Android Automotive Platforms, as CEO. In January 2022 it was reported to be working with Qualcomm Technologies on AI-powered road perception and AR navigation for video- and HUD-based automotive infotainment. A December 2022 report states that Google acquired the company, and Y Combinator lists its status as acquired.