What started out as a pandemic project has become a locally based startup.
It began with Jason Schwinger, a serial entrepreneur and self-proclaimed car guy, thinking of a boutique auto brokerage business idea. Then, after a handful of pivots and meeting fellow local entrepreneur Jason Bartz on the regional startup community's Slack channel, the two started Refraction in late 2021. (Bartz is currently serving as the startup’s strategic advisor.)
Refraction is working on an online marketplace that connects car dealerships and consumers, the “Amazon for car buying,” as Bartz likes to refer to it. Dealers would use the site as a subscription service and customers would browse online and filter options, whether it’s by make, model and color of a car or by dealership or geographic location.
“We still see value in the dealership model for buying cars, because more people are moving to buying online, but still people want to touch, feel and test drive vehicles,” Bartz said. “So we offer that flexibility to be able to buy car 100% online and get delivered if you want, but you can still test drive at a local dealer.”
Both co-founders have had the entrepreneurial itch for quite some time. Schwinger started BFLO Harbor Kayak, a kayak and paddleboard tour and rental company at Canalside, about 15 years ago, and he previously founded a craft distillery, which closed in late 2017. He also has a business consulting firm.
Bartz worked at ACV Auctions, a software unicorn that went public in 2021, in a number of roles and was part of a winning TechStars startup weekend team that went on to launch a business, which closed a few years later.
So far, Refraction has a working prototype and has established product-market fit. The pair said a handful of local dealers have expressed interest, as well as two unnamed partners – one in the digital auto retail space and one finance and insurance provider.
Next up, they started this month raising a $400,000 pre-seed round. The funds will be used for building out the platform, sales and marketing.
“This is the way (for dealerships) to future-proof their model,” Bartz said.
