Why we have chosen blockchain to power the holoride ecosystem
Since announcing that holoride was releasing the RIDE token a couple of weeks ago, we have been overwhelmed by the positive response. The reaction and buzz that we’ve seen in the community have greatly surpassed our expectations.
I’ve been asked several times about our motivation to use blockchain technology and why we decided to release our own crypto token, so I wanted to share why they are such an integral part of our vision at holoride.
Making transit time count
We founded holoride with the purpose of ‘making transit time count’ — putting an end to dull car rides and unlocking the value of the passenger economy. Our proprietary tech stack offers passengers a radically new in-vehicle experience: Immersive content that is motion and location-aware, reacting to the journey through the physical world. At holoride, we call this radically new content category for moving vehicles ‘elastic content.’
In the past few years, we have created a tech stack that connects car manufacturers with content creators to bring elastic content to passengers around the globe. Enhancing our platform with blockchain technology and launching the RIDE token will supercharge how holoride users and partners create and capture value. In other words: holoride brings the Metaverse to the vehicle and the vehicle to the Metaverse.
Transparency, fairness, and true ownership
When building our ecosystem, we did not set out just to change the in-car experience for good — but to also change some of the existing paradigms in the content industry. We aim to develop a platform that is ‘transparent by design,’ giving content creators access to the usage data of their valuable creations. With its open and immutable characteristics, blockchain technology helps us to deliver on exactly that ambition.
As a result, the integrity and transparency of usage data gives us the unique opportunity for a very fair and unparalleled usage-time-based compensation model for all ecosystem partners. Along with increased security to comply with automotive standards and a focus on data protection regulations, holoride aims to build a strong foundation of trust right from the start.
Furthermore, the utilization of blockchain technology helps ensure interoperability and true ownership of digital assets, which will become essential for a vibrant Metaverse economy and enable holoride users to trade or exchange their digital belongings for RIDE and vice versa.
There is also the most important and least technical aspect of blockchain integration: the community. The ever-growing crowd working on and pushing for an open and decentralized version of the (spatial) web are the architects and builders of a desirable version of the Metaverse - accessible, inclusive, fair, meaningful and beautiful. A version of the Metaverse we at holoride want to help create.
Supporting those who create
Based on our Series A funding round in April, we raised the necessary funds and established strategic partnerships to build our core technology and grow our business footprint. With the funds raised via our private and public RIDE token sale, we will set the wheel of content creation in motion, dedicating most of these funds to developers and creators. Making the creator community an integral part of the holoride ecosystem will help us bring the most interesting elastic content to passengers around the globe.
Strong utility and a framework for growth
RIDE is a utility token, giving passengers, creators, and our community exclusive benefits in holoride’s ecosystem. Some of its initial functionalities include:
- Ecosystem governance
RIDE token holders will be able to participate in the governance of the holoride platform and make important decisions about its feature development and content portfolio. - Community benefits
Platform access, digital items, and upgrades will be purchasable in RIDE tokens with a discount from their Fiat price. Holders will participate in special events and be granted early access to exclusive content and rare collectibles. - User incentivization
We will establish a ‘ride-to-play-to-earn’-cycle that incentivizes users for their engagement with holoride experiences. A sustainable ride in an electric car or sharing specific data will earn passengers extra benefits. - Create and trade experience items
We will enable users and content creators to mint unique NFTs based on their experiences in exchange for RIDE tokens. The resulting NFTs can then be bought and sold using RIDE — earning their creators infinite royalties. - Partner royalties
Content creators and car manufacturers may receive RIDE as part of user engagement with NFTs via transaction fees or via direct sales of NFTs.
The RIDE token utility and use cases will be constantly expanded over the coming years. It is designed to create a sustainable environment that incentivizes the creation and consumption of in-car content — supercharging the entire ecosystem.
In it for the infinite game
RIDE is not about a quick raise or an attempt to ride the crypto-wave — it’s all about long-term commitment and engagement. We are focusing on attracting investors and supporters, not traders and speculators.
We are in this for the sustainable benefit of all our ecosystem partners, users and fans. What sets us apart from many other players in the blockchain space is our ‘real-world’ substance and attitude that drives our daily doing and long-term commitment.
We are in this for the infinite game. The launch of RIDE is just the beginning. We will continue to work hard to keep that promise and push the boundaries of what’s possible.
RIDE on! 🚀
🔵 Twitter: https://twitter.com/Nils_Wollny
🔵 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nwollny/
About holoride
holoride creates an entirely new media category for passengers by connecting Extended Reality (XR) content with data points from the vehicle in real-time. These data points include physical feedback, like acceleration and steering, traffic data, as well as travel route and time. holoride technology provides a new type of immersion into any kind of VR content, creating a breathtaking, immersive experience, and significantly reducing motion sickness.
The tech startup was founded at the end of 2018 in Munich, Germany by Nils Wollny, Marcus Kuehne, Daniel Profendiner, and Audi, who holds a minority stake in the startup.
In April 2021, holoride raised €10 million in its Series A funding round led by Terranet AB, earning the company a €30 million valuation. That same year, holoride won the prestigious SXSW Pitch and was also named Best in Show. It has been hailed “Best of CES 2019” four times, recognized as one of the “100 Best Inventions of 2019” by TIME Magazine, and is part of the global innovation platform “STARTUP AUTOBAHN powered by Plug and Play”.
