Truecaller, a verified mobile phone community, has received a $18.8 (about ₹117 crore) million funding from an investor group led by Sequoia Capital.

Others in the group are Open Ocean, an existing investor, Truecaller Chairman Stefan Lennhammer, and a private investor who is known for his high-profile Silicon Valley investments, the company said in a statement.

Truecaller is a Stockholm-based company with more than 45 million users who currently utilise the service to block spam calls and help identify unknown phone numbers.

“Truecaller is among the most engaging applications in many high growth smartphone markets, as it helps make users more efficient in avoiding spam calls and know who is calling them.  We are excited to help support the company’s growing user community,” according to Shailesh Lakhani, Sequoia Capital, who has joined the board at Truecaller.

rajesh.kurup@thehindu.co.in