After years of laying the groundwork, a local startup has launched its first products to consumers, hoping buyers will help company officials figure out where its work will best stick.

Akron Ascent Innovations (AAI), which Crain's first profiled two years ago, last month launched sales of its ShearGrip-brand fiber-based, dry-adhesive products online.

The products, which for now include repositionable bulletin boards, sticky-note paper and photo paper, among other things, are born from technology that uses electrospun nanofibers to create a super-strong dry adhesive. The fibers have a small enough diameter to grab surfaces to hold on tight, but can still peel away without damaging surfaces, the company says.

In 2013, the company was spun out of the University of Akron by John Wong, a mechanical engineering professor, and Barry Rosenbaum, senior fellow at the University of Akron Research Foundation. The pair brought in Kevin White, the company's principal scientist and chief operating officer, in 2015.

In its initial years, AAI was limited in its production of the material, given the space at its lab at the Akron Global Business Accelerator (now the Bounce Innovation Hub). But now, AAI is working with another company associated with the university, whom White declined to identify, that has a production facility in Northeast Ohio that's allowing AAI to create large-scale rolls of the material.

"We can make thousands of meters of it now," White said.

While the company is excited to get its adhesive products out to market, officials are more excited to get feedback from customers to help them figure out exactly where the company's market base best lies, whether it be health care, crafters, corporate meeting planners or parents of teenagers who want to plaster pictures all over their bedroom walls.

"We want to put this in as many places as we can. See where it works, see where it delivers value and where it doesn't," White said.

The company will then adjust accordingly, he said.

"The product development and the application development, those things aren't going to end," White said.

Over the past two years, AAI received considerable support from the National Science Foundation with federal funding, he said. The company received a $1.5 million grant through the Small Business Innovation Research program, as well as funding from Ohio's Third Frontier and third-party investors, White said.

The next step is to transition out of investment into revenue, and the start of that is the online product launch.

AAI also brought in several part-time folks as it was building up the development side and product testing.

The company currently has four full-time employees and one part-time worker. Between them, there are three doctorate degrees, one master's degree and one juris doctorate (who later went back get an engineering degree), White said. In other words, a lot of science minds who are learning the other aspects of launching a business.

"It's a new skill set that we're figuring out how everyone fits it," he said.

But at the center has been the University of Akron.

"We've gotten a whole lot done through our connection with the university."

AAI has had several grad students working with it and brought on hired interns from the university. Plus, the company has received help with business and marketing from those in the university with expertise in those areas.

"The whole infrastructure has been really great," White said.