PlanetVA Acquires VTO Startup VanKeel Solutions

PlanetVA, the leading provider of virtual try-on (VTO) solutions for eyewear, announces the acquisition of VanKeel Solutions, a recently established company that provides live 3D VTO eyewear solutions to independent retailers and eyewear companies.

“We had little understanding of what it would take to start and grow the business when my brother Dave and I decided to bootstrap VanKeel Solutions in the midst of the global pandemic. It involved so many things other than our in-house developed technology solution that we decided early on to look for potential investors that complemented our business. PlanetVA was one of the first companies that contacted us to investigate a possible cooperation. It would eventually turn out to be an excellent match”, said co-founder John Vankeel of VanKeel Solutions.

VanKeel Solutions’ proprietary solution, VTOLive, allows for a more efficient and patient or client-centric approach of the eyewear selection process. VTOLive runs on smartphones, tablets, laptops, and desktops. That makes it suitable to deploy in the dispensary area of the optical retail shop as well as on the website. VTOLive will be part of PlanetVA’s solutions under the new name vmLIVE.

“We are excited to have the VanKeel Solutions team working with us to further improve their recently launched 3D Live VTO solution which complements our current VTO portfolio of solutions for independents,”

said Ludwig Heymbeeck, founder of PlanetVA. “Unlike our competitors we solely focus on providing leading-edge VTO solutions to the independent eyewear sector. For example, we have recently launched a project with opticalnearme.com in the US to facilitate omnichannel eyewear shopping for independents.”

The deal closed on June 11th for an undisclosed sum and the terms were not disclosed. The Vankeel brothers will join PlanetVA as advisors to the R&D department.