Celeno: enabling connected lifestyles

“Wi-Fi is a well-established, ubiquitous technology. There are actually an estimated 17bn Wi-Fi devices worldwide and yet, more often than you’d like, Wi-Fi may fail you” says Gilad Rozen, CEO and founder of Celeno. “It’s not unusual today for a household to have 10-15 devices simultaneously using the Wi-Fi network. We identified a major gap created by these increased demands and the limitations of Wi-Fi systems.”

Based in Ra'anana, Israel, Celeno provides smart Wi-Fi solutions through high-performance chips and innovative software and cloud technology. “Ten years ago, when the company was founded, people did not believe Wi-Fi could carry formats like HD video, not to mention multiple HD streams with whole home coverage. It was considered unreliable, fragile. Our idea was to develop the technology to make Wi-Fi a consistent, reliable resource with enough quality to carry HD content and more” he explains. “Back then, we succeeded in developing our smart Wi-Fi technology and it was adopted by tier one IPTV operators like Deutsche Telekom”.

“With gaming, IPTV, music or 4K UHD-streaming all going on at once, we focus on improving the experience, adding intelligence to the Wi-Fi service, allowing it to manage the allocation of data across devices so that everything works smoothly. It also handles multiple interferences and other network constraints. This can be even more important in offices or production plants, where robots are at work, ensuring reliability and predictability for mission-critical functions.”

As we all want more from Wi-Fi through more connected devices and video-centric applications, the growing demand for this technology has meant that Celeno has been expanding rapidly. In order to support this expansion, Gilad secured financing from LeumiTech in the form of a loan backed by EIF.

“It had a big impact,” Gilad says, “The loan provided us with working capital to support operations and grow sales, freeing up resources for research and developing the business. It helped create jobs directly in the company and also indirectly, through our suppliers and service providers.”

Having grown to 160 persons, Celeno is now focused on ensuring the highest quality for international clients like Liberty Global, Vodafone and Samsung while also looking into further growth: “We are developing next generation products and technologies”, Gilad explains, “and investing in new segments and markets, like industry4.0, smart transportation, smart cities and education.”

Company: Celeno (Israel)

Type of business: ICT

Financial intermediary: LeumiTech Bank

EIF financing: InnovFin SMEG