Wilmington company Iris Hall was named one of 20 semi-finalists for NC IDEA’s fall SEED grant cycle this week.

Iris Hall offers wedding venues with customized visualizations, showing how selected color schemes, tables and chairs and wedding decor could look inside a specific venue. Receiving a grant from Durham-based NC IDEA could help fuel Iris Hall’s growth, company cofounder Brandon Walker said Thursday.

According to NC IDEA, the foundation’s $50,000 SEED grants aim to “support business activities that validate target markets, reduce the risk associated with early-stage companies, and help companies reach the point of suitability for growth through investment or revenue.”

Iris Hall Cofounder Annie Voutsos developed the idea behind the company while living in Wilmington during the COVID-19 pandemic. She wanted to bring applications of 3-D imaging software into the wedding industry, Walker said. He’s been an advisor for the company since its beginning. He joined part-time last November and then full-time in August.

The company’s software prototype helps wedding venues create digital replicas in a configurator that “lets prospective couples edit things like the chairs, the tablecloths, the centerpieces and really customize what that space looks like in a digital format so they can make purchasing decisions and visualize their Big Day in a particular space,” Walker said.

The software can also pull color schemes and decor inspiration from linked Pinterest boards to generate a customized feel for the venue. The digital images and videos are then used to create lookbooks for prospective couples, Walker said.

“Basically, what it enables (event venues) to do is stand out from the competition by giving their prospects the ability to design and stage the wedding exactly as they want to see it in this digital replica,” he said.

Although still in the early stages, Iris Hall has seven venues and wedding planners who regularly use its software in beta testing. The venues putting the software to use are located in Northwest Ohio where Voutsos currently lives. Walker is based in Wilmington and plans to hire the company’s first salespeople in the area to expand the brand’s reach in North Carolina.

Iris Hall recently completed a friends and family funding round and is eyeing a future fundraise to support the company’s capital growth after its sales get off the ground, Walker said.

“We’re really excited about the opportunity to grow across North Carolina,” he added.

A $50,000 grant from NC IDEA could help Iris Hall build out its sales team more quickly and develop other use cases. For example, instead of digitally envisioning the decor for an entire venue, the software could be used to visualize solely centerpiece options or flower arrangements, Walker said.

The company also aims to make the function of pulling color and decor inspiration from Pinterest proprietary, Walker said. Receiving an NC IDEA grant could speed up that process.

Now that the company is in the top 20, they can review and incorporate application feedback from the first panel of judges into longer, more detailed answers about their company and vision.

“We have to go back through and integrate that feedback,” Walker said, “add a little bit more detail, put meat on the bones.”

The top companies will then get to pitch their startup to another panel of ecosystem partners, industry experts, entrepreneurs and investors. Grant recipients will be announced on Nov. 19, the first day of NC IDEA’s Ecosystem Summit in Charlotte.