With over 5.6 billion unique mobile subscribers worldwide, the wave of spam calls and messages has reached unprecedented levels. As technology advances, so do the tactics of cybercriminals, who use sophisticated methods to infiltrate users’ data and gain access to personal and financial information to reap billion-dollar profits. To address this growing problem, Truecaller, a Swedish company founded by Alan Mamedioffers a robust solution.
Truecaller is more than just a caller ID app: it acts as a digital gatekeeper, identifying unknown callers, flagging potential scams and empowering users to take control of their communications. Through its massive database and innovative approach, Truecaller has transformed the way we stay connected, making mobile security a reality for millions of people.
The unique idea of an online telephone directory started as a simple hobby project, but quickly gained 10,000 users within the first week of creation. Today, Truecaller has 420 million monthly active users worldwide, of which almost 60% are from India alone.
On the 40th birthday of Alan Mamedi, the co-founder and CEO of Truecaller, we bring you a few lesser known but interesting facts about him.
Name: Alan Mamedi
Date of birth: October 30, 1984
Net worth: Unknown
- Alan Mamedi, a Swedish entrepreneur of Kurdish descent, started his career as a salesman at The Phone House while earning his Bachelor of Science degree from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in 2004. After two years, he ventured into entrepreneurship and launched Bidding.se, a unique bidding auction site, in 2006, followed by Möbeljakt.se, Sweden’s largest search engine for interiors, in 2007. Within just three months, Bidding.se was acquired , which marked Mamedi’s first major success. In 2008, he joined Birdstep Technology as Chief Architect, where he further honed his skills in technology and innovation.
- Frustrated by a barrage of spam calls, Alan Mamedi and his friend from KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Nami Zarringhalam, had a quick brainstorming session that led to the idea of Truecaller. However, they later discovered that some of the annoying calls were coming from their relatives abroad. This experience led to the concept of an online telephone directory that could contain numbers from all over the world, and thus ‘Truecaller’ was born. Driven by their own frustration with fraudulent calls, the co-founders built the app from scratch, tackling both the design and coding aspects from the ground up.
- The early days of Truecaller were challenging, as founders Alan Mamedi and Nami Zarringhalam struggled to find investors who believed in their vision for a global phone book. Many potential investors found the concept too ambitious and risky, leaving the duo no choice but to start their project. Despite these obstacles, Truecaller’s rapid, organic growth ultimately attracted investor interest. Four years after its founding, in 2014, Truecaller secured $8.8 million in funding from Sequoia Capital, marking a major turning point for the company and fueling its expansion.
- Today, Truecaller is the world’s largest verified mobile phone community, dedicated to helping smartphone users avoid fake calls. In 2023 alone, the app identified more than 2.4 trillion unknown calls and flagged more than 47 billion spam and fraud calls worldwide, underscoring its impact on improving mobile security on a global scale.
- Unlike his previous venture, Bidding.se, Alan Mamedi has no plans to sell Truecaller. “If I were forced to sell the company, I would cry because I love what I do,” he expressed his deep commitment to the platform. Mamedi believes his mission is to build something truly innovative and impactful.
- In 2015, Alan Mamedi and Nami Zarringhalam were honored as ‘Best Startup Founders’, recognizing their visionary work in establishing Truecaller as a global leader in caller identification and spam prevention. Truecaller was nominated for the “Best Enterprise, SaaS or B2B Startup.”
- There’s a famous 50-word quote that Alan always uses to convince smartphone users to use Truecaller:
“Have you ever had an unknown number call you and you wished you knew who it was? Truecaller has an extensive database of public, mobile and even prepaid numbers. The app also has a built-in spam filter, unwanted call protection and a new name feature that lets you look up anyone in the world!”
At such a young age, Alan Mamedi has already made a remarkable impact through his innovative contributions. Today on his birthday, let’s celebrate his achievements and wish him continued success and groundbreaking advancements in the tech world.
The message is part of a B’day series where we regularly celebrate the birthdays of renowned personalities from the Tech Industry. The series features entrepreneurs, C-level executives, innovators or renewed leaders who have moved the industry with his exponential skills and vision. The idea is to highlight the person’s achievements and lay the foundation for the little-known but interesting part of their life. You can check out the list of all previously celebrated tech personalities, including Mark Zuckerberg, Mayor of Marissa, Sean Parker, Andy Rubin, Julian Assange, Sir Richard Branson, And Sergei Brinby following this link or subscribing to your daily newsletter.
