Truecaller acquires CallHero for $4.5 million

Sweden-headquartered Truecaller on Thursday said it has entered into an agreement to acquire the Israeli company CallHero that helps users verify and answer calls with the help of a digital assistant, a Smart Agent.

The agreed purchase price amounts to $4.5 million, of which $2.6 million will be paid in cash upon completion of the acquisition and $1.9 million through newly-issued shares in Truecaller, the company said in a statement.

It added that the purpose of the issue of new shares is to strengthen the long-term commitment to Truecaller for certain key persons at CallHero. “In addition, a potential additional purchase price of a maximum of $2 million will be paid, provided that certain goals are achieved for a period of up to four years after the transaction is completed,” it said.

CallHero gives the user support in handling incoming calls with the help of an AI-based assistant who answers the call. The conversation between the caller and the assistant is visible in text-based format, live in the app.

“This service will help our users prioritise what is relevant and important without having to talk. The technology that CallHero has developed strengthens our offering in the U.S. much faster by integrating it into Truecaller, but our ambition is of course to roll out the service in all our markets,” Alan Mamedi, CEO and co-founder of Truecaller.

The acquisition will be financed through existing cash and newly-issued shares in Truecaller AB.