Truecaller crosses 200 million users, becomes profitable

Swedish caller identification app Truecaller on Tuesday said that the company has achieved profitability over the last four months and also crossed 200 million monthly active users (MAUs) around the world.

Truecaller, which now has over 150 million monthly active users in India, said its aggressive growth in advertising sales and premium subscriptions in India have been a driving force in its revenue generation.

"We are thrilled and humbled that we have been profitable for the last several months while simultaneously growing revenues at over 70 per cent annually," Sandeep Patil, Managing Director, Truecaller, said in a statement.

"We will continue to grow revenues through investments in advertisement, subscriptions, credit and financial services. We will make in India for India by recruiting talent across technology, product management, data sciences and finance and by developing partnerships across the ecosystem," Patil said.

Patil said Truecaller will be ready for an IPO in three years.

Premium subscriptions for the platform have grown immensely since it was launched a year back. It has already crossed the one million mark and is projected to grow by another 50 per cent in the coming months, the company said.

Moving beyond just a "caller ID and spam blocking app", Truecaller offers a wide array of communication services including instant messaging, VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), and fintech products including UPI money transfers, Bharat Bill Payment System.

Its digital money lending service is expected to launch within the first quarter of this year. Truecaller is also expanding its business portfolio with services like Truecaller for Business which streamlines the process for small businesses to be discovered by nearby users.

Another feature being revamped is Truecaller Priority, which identifies relevant calls from businesses, thereby differentiating them from spam calls.

Headquartered in Stockholm, the company was founded in 2009 by Alan Mamedi and Nami Zarringhalam. Its investors include Sequoia Capital, Atomico and Kleiner Perkins.