DITTO
| Company type | Privately held company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Software, Eyewear retail |
| Founded | 2011 |
| Founder | Kate Endress, Sergey Surkov, Dmitry Kornilov |
| Defunct | 2021 |
| Fate | Acquired by 1-800 Contacts and rebranded as Luna Solutions, LLC |
| Headquarters | Oakland , United States |
Area served | United States |
| Products | Virtual try-on technology for eyewear, prescription and non-prescription designer eyeglasses and sunglasses |
Ditto (presented as DITTO) was a privately held software enterprise established in 2011 by founders Kate Endress, Sergey Surkov, and Dmitry Kornilov. Initially operating as a retailer specializing in designer prescription eyewear and sunglasses, Ditto shifted its focus to developing virtual try-on technology for eyewear brands, facilitating online purchases through sophisticated facial measurement tools. The company was originally headquartered in San Francisco before moving its operations to Oakland, California, in 2018.
History
Ditto was launched in Mountain View, California, and secured $3 million in investment funding in April 2012, led by August Capital. Its unique software utilized facial features such as pupils, ears, and cheekbones to create virtual representations of glasses tailored to the user's facial structure.
In February 2017, Ditto discontinued its direct-to-consumer e-commerce service but maintained its business model by licensing its virtual try-on platform to eyewear retailers. The company was acquired by 1-800 Contacts in 2021 and subsequently rebranded as Luna Solutions, LLC.
Products
The product offerings from Ditto included both prescription and non-prescription designer eyeglasses and sunglasses featuring prominent brands like Ray-Ban, Persol, Chloé, TAG Heuer, and Vera Wang. Additionally, the company carried specialized fashion and boutique labels such as Jason Wu, Selima Optique, Alain Mikli, Anglo American, and John Varvatos.
Patent infringement lawsuits
In May 2013, Ditto became the subject of patent infringement claims initiated by 1-800 Contacts and Lennon Imaging Technology. The Electronic Frontier Foundation criticized 1-800 Contacts for allegedly leveraging patent litigation to limit competition, branding it a patent troll and promoting crowdsourced prior art efforts to support Ditto’s defense.
The lawsuit filed by Lennon Imaging Technologies, a non-practicing entity, was dismissed without prejudice on October 7, 2013.
External links
- Companies based in San Mateo, California
- Retail companies established in 2011
- Privately held companies based in California
- Companies based in Silicon Valley
- Eyewear companies of the United States
- Sunglasses
- Software companies established in 2011
- 2021 mergers and acquisitions
- 2011 establishments in California
- 2021 disestablishments in California
- American companies established in 2011
- American companies disestablished in 2021
- Retail companies disestablished in 2021
- Software companies disestablished in 2021