 |
Smart
Furniture closes venture capital funding
Chattanooga, TN, August 30, 2004 – Stephen
Culp, CEO of Smart Furniture, Inc., announced that the Chattanooga-based
start-up has closed a $1.75 million venture capital funding deal.
Delta Capital Management, LLC, and Southern Appalachian Fund, LP,
partnered in the deal.
Smart Furniture's product is an organizational, workspace and display
solution that consumers can customize through a web-based interface,
which can be found at SmartFurniture.com.
According to Culp, customer service is the driving force behind
his company. "We plan to design an entirely new web-based design
interface for our customers," said Culp. "We are taking
our award-winning, 'customer-configuration' design tool to a whole
new level."
"I am delighted with the decision by Delta Capital Management
and Southern Appalachian Fund to invest in Smart Furniture,"
said Culp. "With their financial commitment, we are now poised
to further strengthen our ability to deliver customer-centric furniture
solutions to a mass market."
"Delta Capital invests in companies that have the potential
to be leaders in their respective markets, and Smart Furniture clearly
shows that potential," said Don Mundie, a partner at Delta
Capital. "The company's unique web-based customer self-service
business model has achieved amazing results in the retail industry.
We are pleased to add Smart Furniture to our portfolio."
"We are investing in Smart Furniture because we like the CEO,
and we like the company's business model," said Grady Vanderhoofven,
assistant fund manager for the Southern Appalachian Fund. "This
company has tremendous potential for growth, and we're excited to
help enable that growth."
Smart Furniture® is a patented furniture solution that already
has customers in all 50 states and Canada. Combining the most functional
aspects of web technology and industrial design, Smart Furniture®
is an affordable and efficient space saver for companies and individuals.
On the forefront of the accelerating migration to "smart"
products, Smart Furniture sets a benchmark in design, mass-customization,
and the customer service experience. For more information on Smart
Furniture, visit their online press room: www.smartfurniture.com/prpage.html
About Delta Capital Management
Organized in 1992, Delta Capital Management is a Memphis-based venture
capital firm that manages over $90 million in capital and seeks
investments for its second investment fund, Delta Venture Partners
II, L.P. DVPII is a $16 million venture capital fund focused on
making investments in emerging growth companies located primarily
in the southeastern United States. Delta has recently completed
investing in its first fund, DVPI, a $46 million fund that received
a Small Business Investment Corporation ("SBIC") license
from the Small Business Administration. DVPI consists of 16
companies in information technology, healthcare, supply chain/logistics,
and telecommunications.
About Southern Appalachian Fund
The Southern Appalachian Fund (SAF) is a $12.5M venture capital
fund formed to provide equity capital and operational assistance
to qualifying businesses in southern Appalachia. The Fund focuses
specifically on companies in Kentucky, Tennessee, and the Appalachian
counties of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. The Southern Appalachian
Fund is one of six New Markets Venture Capital (NMVC) Companies
in the U.S. The NMVC Program is a developmental venture capital
program designed to promote economic development and the creation
of wealth and job opportunities in low-income geographic areas.
To learn more about the New Markets Venture Capital program, go
to www.sba.gov/INV/venture.html.
The Fund's investors include a number of institutional investors
and the United States Small Business Administration (SBA).
For more information
contact:
Stephen A. Culp, CEO
Smart Furniture, Inc.
423.266.2661
|
 |