Telly

Market position

Telly operates as a hardware startup competing for living-room screen share against established smart TV and streaming platforms including Roku, Amazon Fire and Apple TV, with which its own set remains compatible. Distribution scale is its principal constraint: it fell well short of its stated first-year giveaway goal.

Telly's distinguishing feature is a dual-screen television given away at no cost, with a persistent secondary ad-and-widget display below the main panel. The company frames its second-screen ads as personalized, localized and actionable — for example a State Farm companion unit allowing viewers to schedule an appointment with a local agent — and designed to sync with and reinforce the ad or programming running on the primary screen without interrupting viewing.

Technology

The set runs TellyOS, Telly's proprietary operating system, driving a two-panel design in which the lower Smart Screen operates independently of the main 4K HDR display. Supporting technology includes a six-speaker integrated soundbar, a camera for video calls, an AI-driven voice assistant, motion-tracking for fitness and games, an engagement sensor that gauges viewership, an over-the-air tuner, HDMI and USB inputs, and ad formats that support click-through actions such as purchases, appointment booking and tune-in.

Go-to-market

Distribution is direct to consumer via free pre-orders taken on the company website and mobile app, supplemented by regional in-person pickup and giveaway events. On the demand side, Telly sells most of its inventory through automated/programmatic channels, with some formats requiring custom creative, and is exploring additional buying models such as time blocks. It has worked on a pilot basis with partners in categories including fast food, retail and car insurance, drawing largely on digital and video advertising budgets, and works with agencies such as PMG.

U.S. households willing to accept persistent second-screen advertising and share detailed personal and purchase-preference data in exchange for a free television; on the commercial side, brands and media agencies buying performance-oriented connected-TV advertising.

Geography

Telly distributes its sets to users in the United States. Wikipedia places its headquarters in Los Angeles, California; the developer listing for its mobile app gives an address in Sherman Oaks, California. The company has run in-person pickup and giveaway events in U.S. markets, including one advertised for Columbus, Ohio.

History

Founded in 2021 by Ilya Pozin, Telly opened a consumer waitlist in May 2023 and began shipping televisions to initial users in July 2023. It set a target of distributing 500,000 sets in the first year but reported distributing only "thousands" by the end of that year; it subsequently changed device manufacturers and pushed distribution through holiday giveaway events. In January 2024 it joined GroupM's Ad Innovation Accelerator, and in January 2025 it hired its first advertising president, Seho Lee, formerly of Uber Advertising, to build out its ad sales operation.

Risks & controversies

Telly has drawn scrutiny over privacy. The second screen collects data on viewing habits, ad interactions and the number of people watching, and receipt of a free set is conditioned on completing a detailed personal questionnaire; commentators have flagged red flags in its privacy policy and argued its business model depends heavily on data collection. Telly has responded that data collected is anonymized and used only to improve the ad experience. Execution risk is also evident in distribution: the company distributed only "thousands" of sets against a 500,000-unit first-year goal and changed device manufacturers.