Peel began with hardware and has shifted to a software-first model, offering a smart remote app and the Peel.in development platform for broadcasters. The app is available on Android and iOS and reports an install base of 90 million users with 5 billion smart remote commands issued monthly. Originally the app mimicked a hardware universal remote using an IR blaster, but it now functions as an intelligent remote companion that generates custom content suggestions based on viewer habits. Peel.in provides networks and broadcasters tools to drive viewership from digital and social sources, including links that tune a user’s TV when clicked. The new funding is intended to help Peel expand its product lineup and broader smart-home and entertainment offerings. Financially, the company has raised a total of $95 million since its 2009 founding. Peel sells a small IR‑blasting hardware device nicknamed the ‘fruit’ and an accompanying mobile app that together let users control TVs, receivers and other home‑theater components via Wi‑Fi. The Peel device is available from Apple retail for $100 and pairs with an iOS app that walks users through setup and then transmits infrared commands. Beyond remote control, the app surfaces personalized content thumbnails and recommendations and the company plans to add deeper social features. Peel intends to use new funding to bring the mobile app to additional platforms such as Android and to expand retail distribution of the Peel fruit. The company recently closed a $16.7M Series B, giving it fresh capital to execute those product and distribution plans. Peel's core product is an iPhone app that personalizes TV discovery by asking users how they access TV, letting them order favorite genres and hide unwanted items, and surfacing "Top Picks" based on preferences. The app's recommendation engine updates as users favorite, share, and hide shows, and it adapts to what users like to watch at specific times of day. Peel is expanding the product with hardware: the Peel Cable (which plugs into a router) and the Peel fruit (an IR/blaster-looking device placed near the entertainment system) that together enable tuning directly to programs from the app. The company developed gesture methods for controlling volume and other functions to avoid heavy touchscreen use while watching TV. The hardware reportedly controls thousands of models of TVs, DVD/Blu-ray players, cable and satellite boxes, and is compatible with web streaming devices including Roku, Apple TV, and Google TV. Peel has not settled on a retail price for the hardware and is temporarily allowing customers to name their own price on its website.

Total raised

$67M

Funding rounds

3

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

Oct 2014