Celltick

About Celltick

Celltick, founded in 2000 by Ronen Daniel, Uri Baron, and brothers Ran and Yossi Wellingstein, established itself as a key player in mass mobile communication systems before its acquisition by the German cybersecurity firm Utimaco in April 2022. The company's business model centers on providing its technology to mobile network operators and governments, enabling them to deliver geo-targeted alerts and messages for both emergency and commercial purposes. Initially, Celltick sold its products under licensing agreements, but progressively shifted towards a managed services model, particularly for its commercial applications.

The company's core technology is Cell Broadcast (CB), which allows for the simultaneous delivery of messages to an unlimited number of subscribers within a specific geographical area without causing network congestion. This technology underpins its flagship product suite, MAGEN (Mass Alert Geo Emergency Notifications). The MAGEN suite includes a Cell Broadcast Center (CBC) and offers a multi-channel dissemination platform that can send alerts via location-based SMS, dedicated apps, desktop alerts, email, and IVR. This system is designed for public authorities to issue urgent warnings about natural disasters, health crises, or military conflicts, a capability that became mandated in the EU by June 2022.

Before focusing heavily on public warning systems, Celltick developed LiveScreen in 2002, a service that pushed content like news and advertisements to a phone's idle screen, turning it into a passive information channel. This service was adopted by major global operators like Vodafone, Airtel, and Telefónica. Another significant product was the 'Start' interface for Android, which gained considerable traction with around 150 million installations before the division was sold to Taboola in 2019. Throughout its history, Celltick secured approximately $41.5 million in funding from investors including Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP) and Amadeus Capital Partners. The company's solutions have been deployed by over 70 mobile operators in 25 countries, reaching an audience of about 1 billion users.