Truecaller debuts on Nasdaq Sweden, Sequoia India all praise for ‘category creator’

Mumbai: Swedish firm Truecaller, the third largest communication platform in India after Facebook and WhatsApp, began trading on Nasdaq Sweden today under the symbol “TRUE”.

The company’s share price, which it had set at 52 Swedish krona ($5.93) each earlier in the day, opened at 60 krona ($6.85) but was back down to 52 krona within a couple of hours, giving Truecaller a market capitalisation of just over $2 billion.

Alan Mamedi, the company’s cofounder and chief executive, tweeted: “What an incredible moment! Thank you everyone for supporting us during the last 12 years. This is truly just the beginning of our journey in making communication safe and efficient!”



Sequoia India, a Truecaller investor since 2014, tweeted: “@Truecaller, which has gone from underdog to category creator, is a great example of having the right #idea at the right time.”


Truecaller had announced plans to list its Class B shares on Nasdaq Stockholm on September 15. It said it planned to use proceeds of about 1 billion krona (about $114 million) to grow its business in existing markets and enter new ones. On September 29, it said the price range for its Class B shares would be 44-56 krona, giving it a market cap of $1.9 billion to $2.4 billion upon listing.

Mamedi and Nami Zarringhalam, who cofounded Truecaller in 2009, plan to control a majority of the company's voting power through Class A shares. Many tech founders use dual-class shares to retain control of their firms after listing to operate on their long-term vision and prevent hostile takeovers. But critics argue that limited voting rights can lead to insular boards and poor corporate oversight.

In early September, the company hired Bing Gordon, a partner at venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, to replace Zarringhalam as chairman. Gordon said at the time that the company would meet its goal to be IPO-ready by the end of the year.

India has about 205 million monthly active Truecaller users, or about three-quarters of the total worldwide, and also accounts for more than half the company’s employees.

With inputs from Reuters.