Artsci was founded in 1977 under the name Softech by William V. R. Smith, William Depew and Gary Koffler. The company name was changed a few months later to Softape. In February William Smith and William Depew incorporated Softape in California as Artsci Inc.

The company was founded to produce Software programs for the Apple II Computer. The first product was Module 1 on cassette. It contained 3 Apple Basic Game programs. It was sold nationwide as the introductory tape of the SOFTAPE SOFTWARE EXCHANGE CLUB. Sold for $20 with a membership, this was the first program available nationwide for the Apple II