Investors Recruit Fayetteville Startup TiFiber to Fort Smith

Fayetteville tech startup TiFiber Inc. said Thursday it has chosen Fort Smith as the location of its pilot production facility and future company headquarters.

TiFiber, a subsidiary company of Fayetteville-based technology venture development firm VIC Technology Venture Development, was founded in 2010 and currently maintains its research lab at the Arkansas Research Technology Park.

“As VIC continues to grow its portfolio, we’re looking for people to be involved in funding expansion of these companies,” said Calvin Goforth, the CEO and founder of VIC Technology Venture Development. “Fort Smith has a good history in manufacturing and it’s a good place for transportational logistics. A combination of those two things were important, but the most important factor was that there were interested parties down there who’d like to see some of the higher tech [startups] being created here in Northwest Arkansas build out a presence in Fort Smith as they expand into production and sales.”

In a company news release, TiFiber said the new facility will begin significant production in 2017, and create up to 100 jobs by 2019.

Pilot-scale production must first be established in 2015 in order to support regulatory certification with the Food & Drug Administration. Once the products are approved, a full production facility will be established.

The site has not yet been determined.

“A group of local business owners are making a financial commitment to this company for the betterment of our community,” Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce president Tim Allen said in a statement. “The chamber is proud to play a role in securing this opportunity; high-tech and innovative projects like TiFiber are exactly what Fort Smith needs more of today. We are thrilled with TiFiber’s decision to move their operation to our community and we welcome their leadership and staff to Fort Smith.”

In June, TiFiber announced an exclusive license with the world’s leading manufacturer of bar soaps to commercialize synthetic, antimicrobial polymers that could replace the antibacterial agent triclosan.

TiFiber established a co-development agreement with Bradford Soap Works of Warwick, Rhode Island, for use of TiFiber’s antimicrobial polymer formulation in bar soap products. The antimicrobial polymer compounds, which are licensed from the University of Auckland in New Zealand, quickly kill bacteria and contain no metals or halogens.

Because the antimicrobial polymer technology kills both physically and metabolically, there is a very low probability of microorganisms forming resistance. Potential uses of TiFiber’s antimicrobial polymer technology include soaps, wound care, medical devices, cosmetic preservatives, dental composites, textiles, surgical hand cleaners, antimicrobial plastic additives and anti-static additive.

Initial development work has been supported by a combination of private investment and economic development incentives from the state of Arkansas.

TiFiber’s core technology, which has yet to be commercialized, stems from an invention of Ryan Tian, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Arkansas. The patent is assigned to the University of Arkansas Technology Development Foundation, which issued the exclusive license to TiFiber to further develop the technology.