Smart Furniture, Inc. is a Chattanooga, Tennessee based furniture company that sells customizable home and office furniture through its Design on Demand platform via www.SmartFurniture. Com. In addition to its patented Smart Shelves product line, the Company has partnered with leading furniture manufacturers to provide customers with the ability to customize furniture that is uniquely suited to their needs and preferences. Smart Furniture sells its products almost exclusively via the Internet, but it has one flagship store, the Smart Furniture Studio, located in an economically distressed neighborhood in downtown Chattanooga.

In 2004, when the company was starting up, its owner and sole employee was ooking for investment capital that would to take the company to the next level. As a small start-up it was difficult to secure financing from conventional banks or venture capital funds. Impressed by Smart Furniture’s owner and his innovative approach for selling and marketing furniture, Southern Appalachian Fund – a Community Development Entity affiliated with Kentucky Highland Investment Corporation – made a $170,000 NMTC investment in the company.

This NMTC investment provided the company the capital needed to move ahead with product development and design, executive recruitment, market research and marketing, and website design.