Posted September 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 U.S.  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).