Opternative is a Chicago, IL–based eye healthcare technology company founded in 2012 and led by CEO Brent Rasmussen. Its core product is an online vision test that allows patients to renew their prescriptions remotely. The company also offers customizable software solutions to eye care providers, eyewear retailers, and other organizations to improve patient and consumer experience. Opternative has issued hundreds of thousands of prescriptions to over 1 million consumers. In August 2018 it secured $9M in funding to accelerate growth. The company plans to use the funds to double its engineering, product, sales and marketing teams and to grow awareness and adoption of its online vision test with consumers, employers and eye care providers. Opternative provides an online refractive eye exam that lets patients take a 25-minute test using a computer and smartphone and receive a physician-issued prescription within 24 hours. Launched in July 2015 and led by CEO Aaron Dallek, the service is based in Chicago and is currently available in 33 states. The company has 40,000 patient signups and charges $40 for a glasses or contact prescription and $60 for both. Opternative plans to expand further across the U.S., pursue R&D, and integrate with partners. The company expects to offer prescription services in 46 states within the next year. Opternative offers a five- to ten-minute online eye exam that requires no special equipment and costs around $35, with results reviewed by an ophthalmologist who can digitally write a glasses prescription. The test calibrates to screen size using a credit-card measurement and runs assessments for astigmatism, color blindness, contrast, and distance, using visual images and heel-to-toe distance steps to infer refractive errors. Co‑founded by Dr. Steven Lee and Aaron Dallek in 2012 and based in Chicago, the company is in private alpha and navigating FDA approval ahead of a planned summer launch. It has raised $1,000,001 in a seed round to get to market and sells the test directly to consumers while exploring licensing to partner eye‑care sites and large online eyewear retailers. Potential future uses include embedding the test on clinicians' sites, licensing to e‑commerce eyewear platforms like Warby Parker, and partnering with in‑person providers rather than solely competing. Opternative positions itself as a "gold standard" digital eye exam that could lower costs and increase access if it overcomes regulatory and accuracy hurdles.

Total raised

$16M

Funding rounds

3

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

Nov 2018