Disruptel, a St. Louis startup developing technology that allows viewers to interact more directly with their televisions, on Tuesday said it reached a deal with one of the world's largest electronics manufacturers to integrate its tools directly into new smart TVs.
The company will work with China-based TCL to embed into TVs Disruptel's software that enables viewers to use voice-commands to interact with on-screen content. Terms of the partnership — which the companies unveiled last week at the Consumer Technology Association’s CES trade show in Las Vegas — were not disclosed.
It's a deal that transitions Disruptel from research-and-development mode directly into distribution.
Founded in 2017, Disruptel is led by founder and CEO Alex Quinn, who in 2021 was named to St. Louis Inno’s Inno Under 25 list. He said TCL reached out to Disruptel after the St. Louis company closed its seed funding round in early 2021.
“They saw our technology, they liked it a lot and were interested in working together,” Quinn said. “To have someone as big as TCL validate and endorse this technology is huge for us.”
TCL had the third-largest global market share — 10.7% — for TV sales in 2020, according to technology research firm Omdia. TCL said it sold 23.93 million TV sets in 2020. In addition to TVs, the company also sells mobile phones, headphones and home appliances.
TCL said the inclusion of Disruptel's software into its TVs will not only bolster the viewing experience, but it will also create new marketing and revenue opportunities for brands and programmers. Together, the companies plan to add technology that allows people to ask questions about the content they’re watching, receive additional information and purchase products that appear on-screen.
“Connected TV continues to evolve, and TCL’s mission is to lead the industry in creating engaging viewing experiences,” said Shaoyong Zhang, CEO of TCL Electronics. “By using their visionary voice assistant technology, Disruptel allows us to create groundbreaking new ways for viewers to interact with Smart TV’s and Connected TV content. By eliminating the need for a second screen while watching TV, this partnership will increase engagement and develop new viewing opportunities."
