Sweden-based caller- identification platform, Truecaller, will lay off around 70 employees. The *neafter* reporting a difficult first quarter marked by a steep fall in India revenue, weakening advertising demand and growing pressure on its core business model.
The workforce reduction represents nearly 15 per cent of the company’s total staff and comes alongside a sharp decline in financial performance during Q1 2026.
Truecaller reported net sales of 362 million Swedish kronor, or nearly $39.3 million, reflecting a 27 per cent year-on-year drop. The company’s biggest setback came from India, its largest and most important market, where revenue fell 41 per cent compared to the same period last year.
The company attributed the slowdown to multiple factors, including the collapse of advertising demand from India’s real-money gaming sector, changes introduced by a key advertising partner and reduced business activity in the Middle East amid regional instability.
Reportedly, the company’s last year’s numbers were boosted significantly by advertising linked to fantasy gaming and IPL-related campaigns. However, India’s crackdown on several real-money gaming platforms created a major gap in digital advertising spending this year.
Truecaller’s advertising business was hit particularly hard during the quarter, with ad revenue declining 44 per cent year-on-year. The company also faced pressure from changes within the programmatic advertising ecosystem, which analysts reportedly linked to Google.
At the same time, the company is dealing with rising competition in India from telecom-backed caller- identification systems such as CNAP, which could gradually reduce dependence on third-party apps.
Despite the slowdown, Truecaller crossed 500 million active users globally during the quarter. Subscription revenue also grew 27 per cent year-on-year as the company continued pushing premium offerings such as AI Assistant and Family Protection services.
Still, the growth in subscriptions was not enough to offset the weakness in advertising and India revenue. The company’s shares have declined sharply over the past year as investors remain concerned about its ability to stabilise growth and reduce dependence on advertising-driven income.
The layoffs signal that Truecaller is entering a tougher operating phase as changing regulations, telecom competition and shifting digital advertising dynamics reshape the caller identification market globally.
