While WhatsApp is still the most-preferred IM app in India, Hike has more than 100 million users with a monthly messaging volume of 40 billion
Hike, an instant messaging app owned and operated by Bharti SoftBank (a joint venture between Japan’s SoftBank and India’s Bharti Enterprises), has secured US$175 million in fresh funding, led by Chinese Internet giant Tencent (owner of WeChat) and Taiwanese electronics major Foxconn, according to various reports.
This round values the Delhi-based company at US$1.4 billion, a TechCrunch report said citing Hike’s Founder Kavin Bharti Mittal. With this, Hike has joined the likes of Flipkart, Snapdeal and Ola to enter the Unicorn startup club in India.
This funding comes eight months after Hike raised an undisclosed amount in funding from Quora Founder and CEO Adam D’Angelo, Dropbox’s Vice President Aditya Agarwal and WordPress Co-founder Matt Mullenweg.
Previously, Hike had raised US$65 million from a group of overseas investors led by Tiger Global in August 2014.
Hike was founded in 2012 by Kavin, son of well-known Indian industrialist Bharti Mittal.
Hike is a WhatsApp-like app, but with some unique features. Hike offers a unique ‘Hidden Mode’ feature that allows users to hide the chats that they want to keep private. Once hidden, they can be accessed only with a password, and no one will ever know they exist unless they tell them. So while the other chats stay visible, the locked-up chats will not show in the main window unless the password is entered.
Also Read: India’s hike messenger introduces free voice calling
As of January this year, Hike claims to have 100 million users. In a press statement then, the company had said it was logging a monthly messaging volume of 40 billion messages, having doubled on messaging in a span of five months (from 20 billion messages per month logged in August 2015). Users spend over 120 minutes per week on Hike.
Additionally, Hike offers free voice calls and quick bite-sized news updates under 100 words.
Almost 90 per cent of Hike users are under the age of 30, of which 90 per cent are based in India.
While Hike has a significant user base, WhatsApp is still the most-preferred service in India, with more than 96 per cent smartphones having it installed on them. However, WhatsApp generates minuscule revenues from the country.
Early this year, Hike had accused Facebook of blocking an option in its ads which lets people visit the chatting application’s website. Facebook is the owner of WhatsApp.
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