As Artemis Immersive, a health tech startup out of Ocean Isle Beach, nears its first birthday, co-founder Adam Isley finds himself juggling developing his product and acting as a spokesperson for the company.
 
The company was founded in May 2023 by husband and wife, Isley and Kaylan Barbrey, and former health system executive Matthew Raffa. Working out of Ocean Isle Beach and Raleigh, business is beginning to pick up for the early-stage startup. Artemis Immersive creates digital renderings of radiology scans. Its technology can be viewed in an augmented reality setting or on traditional tablet and computer screens.
 
After presenting at CED Venture Connect in March, Isley said he received a wave of interest from companies wanting to partner and from potential future stakeholders. A couple of calls come through each week because of the company’s increased visibility.
 
“We seem to get a few calls each week of something coming in on its own,” he said. “Which is big, you know, normally you’re not getting anything unless you’re out there in people’s faces.”
 
Next month, the startup will represent Eastern North Carolina in NC Tech’s State of Tech Exponential in Durham. One of five early-stage startups selected for the startup showcase, Artemis Immersive is the only company presenting at the event that is headquartered outside the Triangle or Charlotte. Showcase participants will pitch on the conference’s main stage in front of attendees and a panel of entrepreneurial experts.
 
Isley said he’s found it difficult to balance this stage of starting a company. He is grateful for the exposure, but he has yet to find the right balance between promotion and product development.
 
In the past two weeks, the Artemis Immersive team completed the latest stage of development on a new version of its product called the VoxScan — although Isley said the technology is constantly updated and is never truly “finished.” This iteration of its medical scan display allows the user to digitally dissect CT or MRI imaging by shuffling through slices of the image.
 
Users can change the colors in the scan to highlight certain anatomical components. Isley demonstrated the technology by changing the contrast to clearly show the ribcage, and then the inner workings of the lungs.
 
This product has a clearer focus on clinical use, whereas the last product was geared toward educators, allowing students to engage with medical imaging using augmented reality goggles. Isley signed a research and development deal with one radiology clinic in the state in the past couple of weeks, he said, with hopes to sign deals with up to 10 other clinics or colleges.
 
“We’re trying to get to 10 before we really go too much further,” he said. “We want to make sure that we’re getting enough feedback from users and incorporating it.”
 
He is splitting his time working on tweaking the new product and showing up to radiology clinics in Raleigh, then in Wilmington, with cupcakes and a tablet to show them the product, he said.
 
Over the past two months, Isley has become involved in the Wilmington tech startup ecosystem, he said. He also began working with Wilmington’s Small Business and Technology Development Center (SBTDC). He’s impressed with the resources he’s accessed in that time, he said.