VIPC’s Virginia Venture Partners Invests in Thumbprint to Streamline Furniture Design Process from Months to Minutes with AI-Powered Platform

Thumbprint is revolutionizing the contract furniture industry with a seamless, efficient, and automated process for commercial users.

RICHMOND, VA, UNITED STATES, October 3, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC) today announced that Virginia Venture Partners (VVP), VIPC’s venture capital program, has invested in Falls Church, Virginia-based Thumbprint Furniture Co. (Thumbprint). Thumbprint offers an AI-powered, cloud-based platform to automate the process of generating fully-specified commercial furniture packages in 30 minutes or less.

Even in 2024, the average 20,000 square foot furniture project currently takes 9-12 months to fully specify (spec), requires 4-7 separate software programs and 18-25 players across 3-6 different organizations, and demands constant, siloed communication with 15-25 (or more) manufacturers that appear in the specs. That’s a lot of time, money, and commitment to outfit a space. Recognizing a significant opportunity to streamline this process, Thumbprint has developed a solution that combines a spec generator, layout generator, and document manager into one easy-to-use platform, eliminating the need for designers to lay out, spec, and order furniture manually.

Users have an end-to-end specification platform that walks them through the entire design process in an intuitive and engaging fashion. First users upload their floor plan, input project criteria such as budgets, lead times, and programming, and confirm their style. The platform then incorporates their selections into the rooms to be furnished, allowing users to configure and reconfigure the space exactly to meet their needs and vision. Each layout comes fully specified, with all project documents – budgets, Gantt charts, lookbooks, drawing sets, and spec packages – generated.

“There’s not another fully integrated, automated solution for generating contract furniture packages out there,” said Katherine D’Zmura Friedman, Co-founder and CEO of Thumbprint. “In fact, many software companies avoid furniture due to the magnitude of manufacturers, products, and options. But Thumbprint’s innovative use of deep tech and machine learning technology, as well as its ability to be tailored to the needs of multiple user groups, provides a unique and efficient alternative to traditional design methods, making us the ideal solution to handle projects of this magnitude.”

In addition to establishing an automated process, Thumbprint is also aiming to establish a comprehensive, standardized database of furniture-related data from numerous manufacturers to become the system of record for the industry.

Joe Benevento, VIPC President and CEO, said, “Thumbprint is an exciting example of entrepreneurs identifying a real problem, leveraging technology to develop a game-changing solution, and impacting a large complex industry. VIPC is proud to support these innovators as they launch a revolutionary industry platform, and we look forward to seeing this startup flourish in Virginia.”

“Thumbprint is disrupting the contract furniture industry by simplifying the process of furniture layout, specs, and ordering commercial furniture,” said Jennifer O’Daniel, Senior Investment Director for VIPC’s Virginia Venture Partners. “Their unique product offering, experienced and capable team, and early traction position the company to be a Virginia success story and VVP is proud to welcome them into our investment portfolio and have a front row seat to their success.”

VIPC’s investment in Thumbprint draws upon funds made available through the U.S. Treasury’s State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) Equity / Venture Capital Program.

About Thumbprint
Thumbprint started as a sketch on a piece of trace paper: an end-to-end platform that streamlined the commercial furniture design process. The sketches eventually became the wireframes that would later serve as the initial concept of the user experience. Now, Thumbprint is a venture-funded tech startup and the first version of the platform launches in June at NeoCon/Design Days in Chicago after a successful beta. Thumbprint was co-founded by Katherine D’Zmura Friedman (CEO), a veteran of the commercial furniture industry and Sasha Perebikovsky (CTO) an expert in cloud computing.

Thumbprint connects commercial furniture manufacturers with buyers by automatically generating a fully-specified furniture package and is poised to be the definitive technological bridge between furniture and architecture globally. Thumbprint uses AI and a comprehensive, standardized database of commercial furniture to generate fully-specified, 3D commercial furniture layouts, specifications, and a document package in under 30 minutes. It allows everyone involved to quickly and easily be involved in the project: designers, dealers and sales reps can create layouts with exact specifications, finishes, and pricing, based on a standardized database of commercial furniture available from the top manufacturers. Learn more by visiting www.thumbprintfurniture.com.

About Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC)

Connecting innovators with opportunities. VIPC operates as the nonprofit corporation on behalf of the Virginia Innovation Partnership Authority (VIPA). VIPA / VIPC is Virginia’s designated authority for leading innovation and economic development in the Commonwealth of Virginia through research, commercialization, and technology advancement; entrepreneurship, startup, and venture capital growth; and regional ecosystem, innovation network, and industry sector expansion. As part of its operations, VIPC helps attract and catalyze private investment into early-stage startup companies, provides research and technology commercialization grants to universities and entrepreneurs, and offers resource and funding support for entrepreneurial ecosystems, innovation networks, and public-private partnerships at local, state, federal levels.

VIPC’s programs include: Virginia Invests | Virginia Venture Partners (VVP) | Commonwealth Commercialization Fund (CCF) | Entrepreneurial Ecosystems Development | Regional Innovation Fund (RIF) | Smart Communities | The Virginia Smart Community Testbed | The Virginia Unmanned Systems Center | Virginia Advanced Air Mobility Alliance (VAAMA) | The Public Safety Innovation Center (PSIC) | Federal Funding Assistance Program (FFAP) for SBIR & STTR | University Partnerships | Startup Company Mentoring & Engagement.

For more information, please visit www.VIPC.org. Explore the latest news from VIPC and images from VIPC-supported stakeholder events. Follow VIPC on Facebook, X, and LinkedIn.

About Virginia Venture Partners (VVP)
Virginia Venture Partners (VVP) is VIPC’s venture capital investment platform that makes direct investments in Virginia-based startups with a high potential for achieving rapid growth and generating a significant economic return for entrepreneurs, co-investors, and the Commonwealth of Virginia. Since its inception in 2004, Virginia Venture Partners has helped catalyze investment in more than 300 startups and attract more than $2 billion of private industry capital into Virginia, resulting in 35x capital leverage.

Virginia Invests is a VIPC-led initiative that expands investment and growth opportunities for Virginia-based, innovation-driven startups and entrepreneurial ecosystems throughout the Commonwealth. The investment program is designed to accelerate capital invested, from both in-state and out-of-state fund managers, into Virginia startups, particularly those with female, black, Hispanic, Veteran, and/or rural-based founders. Virginia Invests is expected to catalyze and attract $250 million of investment into more than 100 high-growth Virginia startups during the next 3-5 years.

For more information about VVP and Virginia Invests, visit www.VIPC.org.

Angela Costello, Vice President of Communications
Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC)
angela.costello@VirginiaIPC.org