Taboola Enters Agreement to Acquire the Start Division of Celltick, Expanding Taboola News to Support Mobile Operators

The Move Gives Taboola Direct Access to Mobile Operators Reaching Tens of Millions of Users Worldwide

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Taboola, the world’s leading discovery platform, announced the execution of an agreement to acquire the Start Division of Celltick, a global leader in mobile discovery and engagement, which includes the Start and Start Magazine product lines. Following the completion of the acquisition, the Start team and technology will integrate into the Taboola News division to bring personalized and relevant recommendations in the form of premium publisher content on mobile devices.

Taboola News has already integrated with several mobile phone manufacturers including ZTE and vivo and this deal will expand Taboola News to support tier 1 mobile operators as well as device manufacturers and app developers. Taboola News creates an opportunity for OEMs and mobile carriers to bring a feed of personalized information directly into mobile devices, creating a new revenue stream.

Start Magazine and its associated lockscreen, Start, provide mobile operators and device manufacturers with a rich medium to understand and intelligently engage with the user, as well as increase retention by providing targeted promotions. Start Magazine helps its partners understand users’ needs while increasing brand loyalty with their existing users. Each month, 20M+ users turn on their device enabled with Start and an additional 25M are exposed to Start Magazine content.

“Through the combination of our strategic premium publisher partnerships globally, our data and deep learning technology, we are able to provide users with a highly personalized content experience that can enrich their lives,” said Adam Singolda, CEO and founder of Taboola. “Celltick’s Start technology has been used by leading mobile carriers and now together we can provide an even more valuable platform for operators globally that can deliver a more engaged and personalized experience for their users and drive incremental ARPU. I am excited to welcome the Celltick team to Taboola.”

“Our team has developed world-class products that have been adopted by 50 mobile operators and device manufacturers around the world that are being used by tens of millions of users every month,” said Ronen Daniel, CEO and co-founder of Celltick. “We have reached a point that requires substantial investment to take the product to the next level and I trust that thanks to the deal with Taboola, the products will continue to grow and prosper for the benefit of our customers and the team.”

Taboola expects the deal to be closed by the end of March.

About Taboola

Taboola enables over 1.4B people to discover what’s interesting and new at the moments they’re most ready to explore. Powered by Deep Learning, AI, and a large dataset, Taboola’s discovery platform creates new monetization, audience and engagement opportunities for digital properties, including publishers, mobile carriers and handset manufacturers. Advertisers use Taboola to reach their target audience when they’re most receptive to new messages, products and services.

Some of the most innovative digital properties in the world have long term, exclusive relationships with Taboola, including CNBC, NBC News, USA TODAY, BILD, Sankei, Huffington Post, Microsoft, Business Insider, The Independent, and Le Figaro. Taboola, now over 1,000 people globally, is headquartered in New York City with offices in Mexico City, São Paulo, Los Angeles, London, Berlin, Madrid, Paris, Tel Aviv, New Delhi, Bangkok, Beijing, Shanghai, Istanbul, Seoul, Tokyo, and Sydney.

Learn more at www.taboola.com and follow @taboola on Twitter.