Hiya, a US-based smart caller identification software developer backed by directory services provider Whitepages, raised $18m in a series A round that closed yesterday.
Balderton Capital led the round with funding also coming from fellow venture capital firm Nautilus Venture Partners and VC partnership Lumia Capital.
Spun out of Whitepages in 2016, Hiya has created a machine learning platform capable of analysing more than 3.5 billion incoming calls per month to provide information about unrecognised numbers.
Hiya provides a free app and is integrated into Samsung phones, thanks to a 2016 partnership between the two companies.
The funding will drive growth in the US and internationally, the doubling of Hiya’s workforce over the next year, and investment in the artificial intelligence and machine learning technology that powers Hiya’s product.
Hiya was initially supported by former parent Whitepages, which has retained a stake in the business, but details of any funding have not been disclosed.
Whitepages founder Alex Algard stepped down as CEO in September 2016 so he could take the same position at Hiya, though he remains executive chairman of Whitepages’ board.
Algard said: “As the telecom industry becomes more competitive, leading wireless carriers and smartphone [original equipment manufacturers] are adjusting by innovating faster than ever before – and Hiya is helping them. We are now in hyper-growth mode and this investment will help sustain our momentum.”