Planatech Solutions

What Planatech Solutions does

Planatech Solutions Ltd is a privately held UK-based developer tools company founded in 1997 that builds software for creating high-performance Excel add-ins. Its flagship product, XLL+, is a C++ toolkit that provides Visual Studio wizards and a class library abstracting the Excel SDK, allowing C/C++ developers to generate Excel add-in functions without writing Visual Basic code or mastering the underlying Excel SDK. The portfolio also includes XLL Host (server-side execution of XLL add-ins without Excel), SciIntegrator (co-developed with SciComp Inc. for integrating SciFinance derivative pricing models into Excel, .NET, COM, Java, and Python), and the proprietary Planatech Language Engine (PLE), which serves as the underlying code-generation technology. The company is headquartered in London with a regional base in Queensland, Australia, and serves top-tier investment banks, hedge funds, engineering firms, and universities across major financial centres worldwide.

The business operates on a direct-to-consumer software model with one-time perpetual licenses sold via its online store (powered by FastSpring), priced between $895 and $1,195 per developer seat depending on Visual Studio version, with concurrent/floating licenses available for team deployment and upgrade paths from prior versions. Revenue is supplemented by professional services (consultancy and bespoke software development for financial markets and technical domains) and by licensing the Planatech Language Engine to other developers and software houses under revenue-sharing, cooperative development, or one-off purchase arrangements. Customers are acquired through a website with trial downloads, email support, and developer-focused content marketing, with no public funding, no disclosed management team, and no evidence of institutional investment.

The company's value proposition centers on performance and developer productivity: XLL+ add-ins in C++ run materially faster than VB-authored alternatives, and the toolkit claims to deliver a fully functional Excel add-in in minutes with error-handling and result caching built in. The product has been recognized repeatedly through ComponentSource Top 100 Publisher awards from 2007 through 2019, and is used by most top 10 US investment banks and leading banks across 11+ countries, alongside hedge funds, aeronautics design firms, chemical engineers, and academic researchers. The most recent product milestone in the timeline is XLL+ 7.0.10 (January 2021) adding Visual Studio 2019 support, with Visual Studio 2022 pricing listed in current commercial offerings.

Name

Planatech Solutions

Legal name

Planatech Solutions Ltd

Website

https://planatechsolutions.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Planatech Solutions Ltd develops XLL+, a C++ toolkit for creating high-performance Excel add-ins, serving top global investment banks, hedge funds, engineering firms, and universities through perpetual developer licenses and professional services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Developer Tools for Excel Add-ins

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132), Custom Computer Programming Services (541511)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)

akta.pro primary industry

Developer Experience Platforms for Enterprise (IDEs, CI/CD, Dev Portals) (HDAEAKAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Custom Application Development (Web/Mobile/Desktop) (BPAEAFAA)

Keywords

• Excel add-in development
• C++ class libraries
• Derivatives pricing integration
• Code generation tools
• Visual Studio toolkits

Headquarters

HQ city

Kensington

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Software Licenses: One-time perpetual license sales for XLL+ toolkit. Fixed licenses tied to single CPU/machine. Concurrent/floating licenses for team deployment. Trial licenses available for 30 days evaluation.
2. Professional Services: Consultancy and bespoke software development services provided on-site and off-site. Includes technology transfer, system design, and implementation services for financial markets and technical domains.
3. Technology Licensing: Planatech Language Engine licensed to other developers and software houses under various business models including revenue sharing, cooperative development, and one-off purchase arrangements.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Planatech Solutions develops and licenses XLL Plus (XLL+), a C++ class library and Visual Studio toolkit that lets developers turn C/C++ code into fully-functional Excel add-in (XLL) functions without writing Visual Basic or learning the Excel SDK. Around it the company sells XLL Host (a server-side runtime for XLLs that need to run without Excel), SciIntegrator (a wrapper-code generator co-developed with SciComp Inc. that exposes SciFinance derivative pricing models in Excel, .NET, COM, Java and Python), and provides related consultancy and bespoke development services for financial markets and technical customers.

Product overview

Planatech Solutions offers a portfolio of developer tools centered on Excel add-in development and code generation technology. The flagship product, XLL Plus, is a C++ toolkit that enables developers to create Excel XLL add-ins through Visual Studio wizards and a comprehensive class library that abstracts the complexity of the Excel SDK. XLL Host extends XLL functionality to server environments where Excel cannot run, exposing add-in functions as .NET objects. SciIntegrator, co-developed with SciComp Inc., provides automated wrapper code generation enabling SciFinance derivative pricing models to be accessed from Excel, .NET, COM, Java, and Python environments. These products are underpinned by the Planatech Language Engine (PLE), a proprietary code generation technology that parses existing code and produces new implementations in various languages and formats. The company also provides consultancy services focused on technology interfaces, financial markets software, and system architecture.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• XLL Plus: A toolkit providing development tools and C++ class libraries for generating Excel Add-in functions from C and C++ code.
• XLL Host
• SciIntegrator
• Planatech Language Engine (PLE)

Products and services

• XLL Plus (XLL+) C++ development toolkit (with AppWizard and Function Wizard) and C++ class library that lets developers generate fully-functioning Excel XLL add-ins from C and C++ code without writing Visual Basic or learning the Excel SDK. Supports Visual Studio 2005 through 2022, 32-bit and 64-bit Excel, asynchronous (RTD) functions, automatic result caching, error handling, and CHM help-file generation.
• XLL Host Administration and management tool for running Excel binary add-ins (XLLs) on servers or other platforms where Excel itself cannot be used, exposing XLL add-in functions as methods of a .NET object via .NET and COM interfaces.
• SciIntegrator (SciXL / SciCOM / SciNet / SciJava / SciPython) Suite co-developed with SciComp Inc. that automatically generates Excel, .NET, COM, Java and Python wrapper code for derivative pricing models built in C-family source code with SciFinance, enabling SciFinance models to be invoked directly from Excel and other environments.
• Planatech Language Engine (PLE) Proprietary code-generation technology containing a rich object model of functions, APIs and human-computer interfaces, with language modules that read existing code and produce new code in a variety of programming languages; licensed to clients, partners and software houses under revenue sharing, cooperative development or one-off purchase.
• Planatech Consultancy & Bespoke Development On-site and off-site consultancy and bespoke software development services covering technology interfaces, financial markets software and system architecture; includes business needs assessment, solution design, technology transfer, implementation, and training of key personnel.

Quantifiable outcome

• Orders of magnitude performance gains over VB-authored functions through automatic result caching
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• SciComp Inc.coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-development partnership for SciIntegrator product line. SciComp provides SciFinance derivative pricing model technology; Planatech provides XLL+ toolkit for Excel integration. Jointly developed SciXL (Excel integration), SciCOM (COM wrapper), SciNet (.NET wrapper), SciJava (Java wrapper), and SciPython (Python wrapper) products. SciIntegrator allows automatic generation of Excel add-ins from SciFinance pricing models.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• SpreadsheetGear: SpreadsheetGear provides high-performance Excel-compatible spreadsheet components for .NET, including the ability to create Excel add-ins and reporting tools. It targets the same financial and engineering customers who need Excel-integrated C++/.NET computational components.
• Aspose: Aspose sells developer libraries and APIs for file formats including Excel, Word, and PDF, with native C++ and .NET support. It is directly comparable to XLL+ as a developer toolkit for programmatically generating and manipulating Office files, with similar per-developer licensing.
• Addinsoft (XLSTAT): XLSTAT is a leading Excel add-in for statistical and data analysis used by enterprises and academia. It shares Planatech's distribution model (online store, perpetual licenses) and serves overlapping financial and engineering Excel power users, though it focuses on stats rather than C++ code generation.
• Syncfusion: Syncfusion provides a broad suite of .NET/C++ developer controls including Spreadsheet (Essential XlsIO) for creating and manipulating Excel files. Comparable to XLL+ as a developer component vendor with a similar perpetual/per-developer licensing model and enterprise customer base.
• GrapeCity (MESCIUS): GrapeCity offers Spread.NET, ActiveReports, and other developer components that integrate with Excel and Visual Studio. It serves enterprise developers building financial and analytical applications, overlapping with Planatech's customer base and developer-tool value proposition.

Broad incumbents

• DevExpress: DevExpress offers a large portfolio of .NET/C++ developer components including spreadsheet controls. As a broader incumbent with thousands of customers, it competes in adjacent rather than identical niches, but its Spreadsheet Document Server overlaps with XLL+'s Excel add-in functionality.

Emerging players

• Quantitative Micro Software (QMS): QMS provides numerical libraries for derivatives pricing and exposure to Excel. Comparable to Planatech's SciIntegrator offering in combining C++ computational libraries with Excel interfaces for the quant finance community.

Others

• SciComp Inc. SciComp is Planatech's co-development partner for SciIntegrator. While not a direct competitor, SciComp's SciFinance derivative pricing models are tightly integrated with XLL+ technology, making it a closely related ecosystem participant in the quantitative finance tooling space.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Planatech Solutions