Cox Automotive, the automotive retail and services arm of media conglomerate Cox Enterprises, has invested $30m in Fyusion, a US-based developer of 3D photography technology.
Founded in 2013, Fyusion develops mobile apps that allow users to create 3D interactive pictures from photos taken on their smartphones. The technology uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to create the 3D images, which are viewable on mobile, desktop and augmented reality devices.
Manheim, Cox Enterprises’ automotive auction unit, will use Fyusion’s technology to enable dealers on its platform to create 360-degree images of their vehicles and to tag vehicle damage with moveable images.
Fyusion closed a $22m series B round in 2017 that included game developer Colopl, smartphone maker Gionee, NTT Docomo Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of mobile network operator NTT Docomo, and 2020, a technology investment fund backed by contract manufacturer Foxconn.
New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Presence Capital and undisclosed angel investors also took part in the series B round, which followed $13m in a 2015 round co-led by NEA and University of Tokyo Edge Capital (UTEC). It added to $3.35m raised from UTEC, NEA and various angel investors the year before.