- Refraction AI — a robotics startup and creator of the REV-1 (a low-cost and lightweight autonomous delivery robot) announced recently that it raised $4.2 million in a new seed funding round led by Pillar VC. These are the details.
Refraction AI — a robotics startup and creator of the REV-1 (a low-cost and lightweight autonomous delivery robot) announced recently that it raised $4.2 million in a new seed funding round led by Pillar VC. The funding will be used for customer acquisition, geographic expansion and product development.
Launched in July 2019, Refraction AI solves last-mile delivery logistics with a practical, economical, and sustainable application of mobile robot technology.
The COVID-19 pandemic has made the home delivery of food, medicine, and other necessities directly from retailers and restaurants a necessity. And the Refraction REV-1 autonomous delivery robot is the ideal way for restaurants, grocers and other retailers to benefit from these trends reliably, affordably and sustainably.
The funding round was also filled out by a syndicate of investors including eLab Ventures, Osage Venture Partners, Trucks Venture Capital, Alumni Ventures Group, Chad Laurans (founder of SimpliSafe), Invest Michigan, and others.
Since being founded, Refraction AI has deployed the first application of its technology serving restaurants and grocery stores in its Ann Arbor, MI location. And with new capital, the company plans to expand both the geographic and industry reach of its last-mile delivery as a service offering.
KEY QUOTES:
“Last-mile delivery is the quintessential example of a sector that is ripe for innovation, owing to a powerful confluence of advancing technology, demographics, social values and consumer models. Conventional approaches have left businesses and consumers with few choices in this new environment as they struggle to keep pace with surging demand – burdened by the costs, regulatory, and logistical challenges of a legacy infrastructure. Our platform uses technology that exists today in an innovative way, to get people the things they need, when they need them, where they live. And we’re doing so in a way that reduces business’ costs, makes roads less congested, and eliminates carbon emissions.”
— Luke Schneider, who took the helm as CEO of Refraction AI in fall 2020
“With a tremendous potential to impact the future of last-mile goods delivery, Refraction AI is incredibly well-positioned because their solution is up and running today. We believe Refraction AI will create the de facto standard for this rapidly-expanding category; the combination of technology, momentum and leadership makes the company poised to break down barriers to AV for any business, which in turn increases access to goods for households that need them.”
— Jamie Goldstein, founder and partner of Pillar VC
