Telly is a technology company.
Telly has raised $15.0M across 2 funding rounds.
Key people at Telly.
Telly has raised $15.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
Key people at Telly.
Telly has raised $15.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
Telly's investors include Cota Capital, Next Play Ventures, Practical Venture Capital, True Ventures, Uncork Capital, Shervin Pishevar.
Telly is a U.S.-based technology company that builds and distributes free 55-inch 4K HDR smart TVs featuring a dual-screen design: a primary Theater Display paired with a secondary Smart Screen for non-intrusive ads, personalized content, and interactive features.[2][3][4] It serves everyday consumers seeking premium home entertainment without upfront costs, solving the problem of expensive TVs and ad-heavy streaming by funding hardware entirely through brand advertising on the Smart Screen while delivering value-added experiences like voice control, fitness tracking, gaming, music, and video calling.[2][3] Telly has shown strong growth momentum since its 2023 launch, including CES announcements, key hires like an advertising lead from Uber, and rapid scaling of its ad-supported model amid rising demand for connected living room devices.[2][4]
Telly was co-founded in 2023 by Ilya Pozin (CEO) and Shervin Pishevar (Chairman), with a leadership team boasting expertise in product, hardware, software, revenue, and operations.[4] The idea emerged from a vision to reinvent TV as the "heartbeat of the home"—a unifying hub for entertainment, information, fitness, and connectivity—disrupting the stagnant TV market dominated by high prices and basic smart features.[3][4] Early traction came via a bold free-TV model announced at CES, leveraging Pishevar's venture background and Pozin's entrepreneurial experience to secure partnerships and pre-orders, positioning Telly as a fresh entrant in consumer hardware.[2][4]
Telly rides the wave of connected home convergence, blending TV, smart assistants, fitness tech, and social streaming in an era where living rooms double as entertainment, wellness, and info hubs amid cord-cutting and ad-tier streaming dominance.[2][3] Timing is ideal post-2023 as consumers fatigue from $1,000+ TV prices and fragmented apps, with market forces like rising OTT adoption (90%+ U.S. households) and targeted ad spend shifting to CTV favoring Telly's data-driven, privacy-compliant model.[2] It influences the ecosystem by pressuring incumbents (e.g., Roku, Samsung) toward free tiers and interactivity, accelerating ad-supported hardware as a standard while democratizing premium tech for mass adoption.[2][3]
Telly is poised to dominate free smart TV with aggressive ad sales ramp-up (new CRO hires signal 2026 blitz) and hardware iterations, potentially expanding to larger screens or international markets as CTV ad revenue hits $30B+ globally.[2] Trends like AI personalization, AR fitness, and hyper-local ads will amplify its edge, evolving influence from disruptor to ecosystem shaper—perhaps via developer platforms or acquisitions. This positions Telly to redefine TV not as a commodity, but as the free, indispensable core of smart homes, echoing its launch promise of the "biggest thing since color."[3]
Telly has raised $15.0M across 2 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $8.0M Series B in December 2013.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 1, 2013 | $8.0M Series B | Cota Capital, Next Play Ventures, Practical Venture Capital, True Ventures, Uncork Capital, Shervin Pishevar | |
| Sep 1, 2011 | $7.0M Series A | Cota Capital, Practical Venture Capital, True Ventures, Uncork Capital, Shervin Pishevar |
