AIN.UA editor tells the story of Apostera startup.
Andrey Golubinsky, Viktor Sdobnikov, and Olga Mirkina, the founders of Apostera, met at Luxoft, one of the largest outsourcing companies in Ukraine. All of them were involved in projects for car manufacturers. Today, software for the automotive industry is also made by other Ukrainian outsourcers, in particular GlobalLogic, EPAM, TietoEVRY (Infopulse). But the first embedded and in-vehicle infotainment systems began in Odesa Luxoft in 2006.
In 2018, Ukrainians took the product to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. They showed the system on a real car, and Audi representatives became interested in the development. In the same place in Las Vegas, Apostera held its first meeting with them and decided to participate in the upcoming Audi tender. The automaker was looking for an augmented reality navigation system developer.
Thanks to the deal with Audi, Apostera has gained market recognition. The company now has contracts with 4 car brands and tenders for 4 more contracts. The company does not yet have the right to disclose the brands, however, according to Andrey, these are the leaders of the premium segment of the German and American automotive industry.
To date, Apostera has successfully won all tenders in the field of automotive Augmented Reality systems, in which it took part, ahead of competitors in several indicators. The technology that Daimler made is an internal development of Mercedes, and the concern will most likely not sell it outside. For him, this is a unique advantage over competitors. In turn, for Audi and other automakers, Apostera is an opportunity to compete in the market by introducing fundamentally new approaches to navigation. And here the Apostera product has advantages, namely the linking of the image to the real world.
Today, Tier1 suppliers come to Apostera with a partnership proposal, and automakers are consulting even before a tender is announced.
“America, Europe, Korea know us. We participate in almost all tenders from car manufacturers on AR,” says Olga.
When asked if the founders received offers to buy Apostera, Victor and Olga look at each other, but they do not immediately answer.
“Of course. Just imagine, the automaker is ready to pump millions into AR navigation technology and it does it. On the other hand, there is Apostera with strategic R&D, which is on the market with a current offer both today and in three years. The market for heads-up displays is in its infancy and is predicted to grow rapidly in the next 5-7 years for automotive devices” Victor says.
