Truecaller raises $18 million in funding round, ties up with Yelp

The caller ID app that’s become pretty essential to most smartphone owners these days, Truecaller, has landed $18.8 million in a series B funding round. The company has also announced a partnership with Yelp to help users verify business numbers calling your phone.   Truecaller announced that the investor group, led by Sequoia Capital as well as existing investor Open Ocean, Truecaller Chairman Stefan Lennhammer and a private, unnamed investor were involved in the funding round. Truecaller, that boasts 45 million users the world over, is situated in Stockholm and has just been joined by Shailesh Lakhani of Sequoia Capital on the board.   As part of the company’s ongoing effort to expand its list of product features, it announced an integration of Yelp’s API data as part of its new product launch on Android. The API will allow Truecaller users to identify millions of reviewed businesses on a global scale. You will also be able to check out the Yelp rating of an establishment via Truecaller. Truecaller’s own search engine information will be combined with Yelp’s crowdsourced business ratings and shown to the user in the app or before the phone call. The new release also adds new social features that make it easier to update contacts and get in touch with people you may know.   Back in December, Truecaller had joined hands with Twitter with the aim of increasing the app’s India userbase too. The tie up ensures that Truecaller users will be able to look people up on Twitter using their phone numbers. Essentially, besides the name of the caller, a user will also be able to see their Twiter handle and follow them right through the Truecaller app.