{"id":"00ba3980-5394-4fcb-b672-d90b2a128220","name":"Refraction AI","slug":"refraction-ai","description":"Refraction AI was an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based last-mile delivery robot company founded in 2019 by University of Michigan researchers. The company's REV-1 robots were battery-powered, five feet tall, traveling at 10-15 mph, and operated on streets and bike lanes for food and goods delivery. Refraction raised $4.2M in seed funding and partnered with Chick-fil-A for autonomous delivery pilots, but abruptly closed Ann Arbor operations due to funding challenges.","status":"private (still operating; ~21 employees)","founded":2019,"hq":"Ann Arbor, MI, USA","fundingTotal":"4200000","type":"both","reviewStatus":"reviewed","lifecycleState":"active","supersededByCompanyId":null,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.ottomate.news/p/refraction-ais-luke-schneider-is","title":"Refraction AI's Luke Schneider (CEO; still operating; ~21 employees; Chick-fil-A; gen-2 design)","sourceName":"Ottomate"},{"url":"https://www.therobotreport.com/refraction-ai-raises-4-2m-for-delivery-robots/","title":"Refraction AI raises $4.2M seed (2021)","sourceName":"The Robot Report"},{"url":"https://newatlas.com/robotics/rev-1-delivery-robot/","title":"Refraction REV-1: ~15 mph, ~280 lb payload, bike-lane / road-margin operation","sourceName":"New Atlas"},{"url":"https://pulse2.com/refraction-launches-rev-1-michigan/","title":"Refraction founded 2017 by U-Michigan professors Johnson-Roberson + Vasudevan","sourceName":"Pulse2"}],"keyFacts":[{"label":"Product","value":"REV-1 (street delivery robot)"},{"label":"Status","value":"Operations ceased (funding challenges)"},{"label":"Additional location","value":"Austin, Texas, USA"},{"label":"Founders","value":"University of Michigan professors"},{"label":"CEO","value":"Luke Schneider"},{"label":"Seed funding","value":"$4.2M"}],"aliases":["Refraction","REV-1"],"collisionRisk":"low","reviewNote":null,"atsProvider":null,"atsSlug":null,"factoryLocations":null,"manufacturingCapacity":null,"orgType":null,"burnSignal":null,"litigationEvents":null,"insurancePostureDisclosed":null,"unitEconomicsDisclosed":null,"createdAt":"2026-06-03T21:25:36.253Z","updatedAt":"2026-07-06T06:33:37.567Z","jsonLd":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Organization","@id":"https://registry.deploy.report/companies/refraction-ai","url":"https://registry.deploy.report/companies/refraction-ai","name":"Refraction AI","alternateName":["Refraction","REV-1"],"description":"Refraction AI was an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based last-mile delivery robot company founded in 2019 by University of Michigan researchers. The company's REV-1 robots were battery-powered, five feet tall, traveling at 10-15 mph, and operated on streets and bike lanes for food and goods delivery. Refraction raised $4.2M in seed funding and partnered with Chick-fil-A for autonomous delivery pilots, but abruptly closed Ann Arbor operations due to funding challenges.","identifier":"00ba3980-5394-4fcb-b672-d90b2a128220","foundingDate":"2019","address":"Ann Arbor, MI, USA","publisher":{"@id":"https://deploy.report/#organization"}},"framework_metadata":{"framework_schema_version":"0.1.0","verification_status":"verified","maturity_stage":null,"lifecycle_state":null,"architectural_position":{"cohort":null,"sub_cohorts":[]},"within_cohort_verified_vs_claimed_pair":null,"cap_flags":[],"verification_depth":{"sources_count":4,"primary_source_types":["secondary-trade-publication"]}}}