OPTISUITE: accelerating growth
- By Editorial Team
In June, Ditar, the Brussels-based company behind the optical in-store consultation platform OPTISUITE, announced the closing of a €1.4 million seed round, led by ScaleFund with participation from SeederFund, imec.istart and Invest BW. According to CEO Alexandra Macsimov, the funding will enable Ditar to accelerate its international expansion, as well as strengthen its product and commercial teams and continue to develop new AI-powered features. In an interview with 20/20 Europe, Macsimov offered further insight into the company’s latest positioning and explains why OPTISUITE has the potential to transform the in-store optical consultation – in more ways than one.
Q: OPTISUITEis an in-store consultation platform for opticians. Can you expand on what it is and how it is used?
A: OPTISUITE is an easy-to-use digital tool that helps opticians guide customers through choosing their glasses. Used on a tablet in-store, it supports frame and lens recommendations, measurements, pricing and promotions. It complements the optician’s expertise by making complex options easier to explain and compare. For retailers, it creates a more consistent consultation process across teams and stores, while giving customers a clearer, more personalized experience and greater confidence in their purchase.
Q: What is particularly revolutionary in your view in terms of how opticians can view this platform as a real opportunity? Is it as relevant to a single store independent retailer as a larger chain?
A: What makes OPTISUITE different is that it brings the entire consultation into one simple, guided experience. It helps opticians explain complex choices visually, personalize their recommendations and spend more time engaging with the customer. The opportunity is relevant for retailers of every size. For an independent store, it supports a more professional and distinctive customer experience. For larger chains, it also helps create consistency across teams and locations, while providing useful insights into how consultations are performed.
Q: Do you have any case study you can talk about re a business that has turned around by using the platform?
A: We have several strong customer success stories, but the specific results are currently covered by confidentiality agreements, so we cannot share names or detailed figures. What we can say is that retailers using OPTISUITE have seen very encouraging progress, including more consistent consultations, stronger premium lens and second-pair sales, and greater customer engagement. We are working with our partners to make more detailed case studies available in the future.
The optical industry is a sector where human interaction remains essential, but customer expectations are evolving rapidly. We believe there is a real opportunity to modernize the in-store experience with tools that are truly adapted to the realities of the field...
Q: What has the roll-out been like so far – please explain how the start-up is expanding in Europe.
A: We began by working closely with opticians and industry partners to develop and test OPTISUITE in real stores. This helped us build the platform around the everyday needs of optical professionals and their customers. We are now expanding across Europe through partnerships with both independent retailers and larger optical groups. Our approach is to start with a small number of stores, learn from the teams and their customers, and then roll out more widely. OPTISUITE supports different languages, product ranges, pricing and promotions, allowing it to be adapted to each market while maintaining the same simple consultation experience.
Q: This year you announced important funding for DITAR. What does this mean going forward for OPTISUITE?
A: The funding allows us to accelerate OPTISUITE’s growth and bring the platform to more optical retailers internationally. We are investing in our product and commercial teams, developing new AI-powered features and strengthening the platform based on feedback from opticians. It also supports our expansion beyond Europe, particularly into the US market. Most importantly, it gives us the resources to grow while remaining focused on our goal: making every optical consultation simpler, more personal and more effective.
Q: Who is behind the business?
A: DITAR was founded in Brussels by Alexandra Macsimov and Dan Tatar, and we were later joined by Andrei Bogza. Together, we bring experience in the optical industry, technology and digital innovation. We are supported by a growing team with expertise in product development, AI and optical retail, as well as investors and industry partners who share our vision for the future of in-store eyewear consultations.
Q: Over the past years, Ditar has collaborated with several major players in the optical industry, including Hans Anders, eyes+more, Direkt Optik, Tokai Optical, Krys Group, Optiswiss, Markus T and Sixty Sixty Glasses. According to the company, these collaborations helped identify operational challenges faced by optical retailers and shaped the development of OPTISUITE. Please comment.
A: These collaborations have been essential to the development of OPTISUITE. By working closely with retailers, lens manufacturers and eyewear brands, we gained a clear understanding of the everyday challenges faced in-store—from explaining complex lens options to creating a consistent customer experience across different teams and locations. This allowed us to build OPTISUITE with the industry, not simply for it. The platform has been shaped by real feedback and real consultation needs, ensuring that it is practical, easy to use and relevant to both opticians and their customers.
Q: Finally, as the new season approaches and the international optical show SILMO PARIS gets underway, what are you currently working on and what are you planning?
A: We are currently focused on expanding OPTISUITE across Europe, developing new AI-powered features and continuing to improve the platform through feedback from opticians and retail partners. We are also preparing a new rollout in the United States, which we are excited to announce soon.
