Kavin Bharti Mittal’s entrepreneurial journey is marked by numerous ups and downs, which is what makes it so compelling. He burst onto the scene in 2012 with Hike Messenger, a homegrown app that, for a while, looked ready to take on WhatsApp. This app was backed by top-notch investors like SoftBank and Tencent. Hike quickly climbed the charts and turned Kavin into one of the most popular young entrepreneurs in India.
However, the tech world moves faster, and global competition has left little room for local challengers. Instead of giving up, Kavin made certain changes by making Hike into a gaming and Web3 platform to attract millions of users. Then cut to 2025, when India’s ban on real-money gaming led him to pull the plug. This article explores Kavin Bharti Mittal’s journey so far; his roots, his wins, his setbacks, and what the end of Hike signals for his future as an innovator in India’s startup world.
Kavin Bharti Mittal – Biography
Name
Kavin Bharti Mittal
Born
30 August 1987
Nationality
Indian
Education
Bachelor’s in Electronics & Electrical Engineering from the University of York, Master’s in Electrical & Electronics Engineering & Management, Imperial College London
Family
Son of Sunil Bharti Mittal, the chairman and founder of Bharti Enterprises
Kavin’s academic journey took him from the University of York, where he studied Electronics and Electrical Engineering, to Imperial College London, where he combined advanced technical training with management studies. At McLaren Racing, he interned as an associate vehicle engineer, working under the high-pressure world of Formula One, a short but impactful stint that sparked his love for speed, precision, and scale.
He then moved to Google in 2007 as an Associate Technology Manager, spending three months at Mountain View. This gave him a front-row view of Silicon Valley’s product-driven culture. Soon after, a summer role at Goldman Sachs exposed him to Debt Capital Markets and TMT (Telecom, Media & Technology), where he realized that while products are vital, it’s capital that fuels startups.
Kavin Bharti Mittal – Career Journey
Kavin Bharti Mittal launched Hike in December 2012 with a vision that if India was going to be a mobile-first nation, then messaging could be the gateway to bring millions online. At its peak, the platform boasted over 100 million registered users, with more than 40 billion messages exchanged every month. In August 2016, Hike made history by becoming the 10th Indian startup to cross the $1 billion valuation mark, and it did so in record time, just 3.7 years, making it the fastest unicorn in India back then.
This milestone also turned Kavin Bharti Mittal into the youngest Indian founder to build a billion-dollar company at just 28 years old. But the internet landscape moves fast. By 2021, changing user behavior and the rise of global players forced Hike to shut down. Instead of giving up, Kavin steered the company in a new direction with Rush, a real-money gaming platform that combined casual games with Web3 features like digital ownership and play-to-earn mechanics.
Kavin’s rise was backed by some of the biggest names in business. He raised over $250 million in funding, with support from global giants like Tencent, Foxconn, Tiger Global, SoftBank, Bharti, and even well-known tech leaders from Silicon Valley. However, India’s 2023 crackdown on real-money gaming abruptly halted those plans, once again forcing Hike to rethink its future.
Kavin Bharti Mittal revealed that Hike’s real-money gaming (RMG) platform was never meant to be the final destination. Instead, it was supposed to serve as a testing ground, an experiment to refine the model in India before taking it global. “RMG was never the destination,” Mittal wrote. “It was a way to test the model before building something bigger.”
But those ambitions ran straight into India’s tightening regulations. What began as a local experiment quickly became a liability. “Starting in India locked us into the model and regulatory headwinds,” Mittal admitted. Scaling internationally would have required a complete reset, one that wasn’t worth the cost or time.
Even though Hike had already launched in the US and was showing early traction, the team decided it was wiser to pull the plug than operate under uncertainty.
Kavin Bharti Mittal – Hike’s Scale and Reach
At its peak, Hike had around 100 employees working across India, the US, Dubai, and Singapore. The company was structured like “SWAT teams”, small, agile units built to tackle complex problems quickly.
Its gaming product, Rush, was a major player in the Indian RMG space. Over four years, it generated more than $500 million in gross revenue, drew in 10 million users, and paid out nearly $480 million in winnings annually. Despite the numbers, the unpredictable policy environment in India became a hurdle too high to cross.
Kavin Bharti Mittal Shuts Down Hike Amid India’s Gaming Ban
On September 13, 2025, Kavin Bharti Mittal shared on LinkedIn that he was shutting down Hike, bringing an end to a 13-year journey that had once changed the way India viewed homegrown internet startups. Once hailed as India’s answer to WhatsApp, Hike had millions of users and big-name investors like SoftBank and Tencent.
In a reflective LinkedIn post titled “Closing a Chapter, Opening a New One”, Mittal pointed to shifting market conditions and India’s recent ban on online real-money gaming as the final blow. “RMG was never the destination; it was just a way to test the model. But starting in India locked us into regulatory headwinds,” he wrote.
Despite early traction in the US, Mittal said scaling globally would require a costly reset, one he felt wasn’t worth it. Thanking his team and backers, he noted, “We gave it everything we had. We learned, we grew, and now it’s time to move on.” Looking ahead, Mittal hinted at new ventures in fields like AI, clean energy, and human potential.
Hike was strongly backed by a glittering roster of global names. Investors included SoftBank, Tencent, Tiger Global, Foxconn, Polygon, and Tribe Capital. On the individual side, heavyweights like Elad Gil and Zynga founder Mark Pincus had also placed their bets on Mittal’s vision.
The shutdown coincided with a tough moment for India’s gaming industry. Other players like MPL, Games24x7, Zupee, and Baazi Games have also been hit hard by the government’s crackdown, with layoffs rippling across the sector.
Kavin Bharti Mittal – Awards and Recognitions
Kavin Bharti Mittal’s work as a young entrepreneur has earned him several prestigious accolades over the years. His ability to experiment, pivot, and lead bold ventures has been recognized both in India and globally. Some of his notable awards include:
ET and Spencer Stuart 40 Under 40 (2016)
ET Panache Trendsetting CEO (2016)
Express IT Awards – Newsmaker of the Year (2016)
Entrepreneur India 35 Under 35 (2017)
Forbes Asia 30 Under 30, Class of 2017
Kavin Bharti Mittal – Future Plans
Instead of dwelling on setbacks, Mittal is already focused on what comes next. His next bets are in artificial intelligence, clean energy, and human potential, fields he believes will define the next decade.
“For the first time, technology has both intelligence and memory,” he wrote. “Imagine systems that adapt and grow with us. This is the most exciting time to be building software.”
It’s clear that while Hike’s chapter has closed, Mittal’s story is still very much being written.
Kavin Bharti Mittal is an Indian entrepreneur best known as the founder of Hike Messenger, once considered India’s answer to WhatsApp.
What happened to Hike Messenger?
Hike Messenger shut down in 2021 due to global competition and shifting user behavior. Kavin Bharti Mittal later pivoted it into a Web3 and real-money gaming platform called Rush, which also shut down in 2025 following India’s gaming ban.
What is Kavin Bharti Mittal’s educational background?
He studied Electronics & Electrical Engineering at the University of York and pursued a Master’s in Electrical & Electronics Engineering & Management at Imperial College London.
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations.
The Indian online gaming industry is flourishing with a wide variety of games that are letting young and old indulge in them. Among all other outdoor games including cricket, football, kabaddi, and basketball, India is also witnessing a rise in the popularity of several indoor games like ludo, pool, carrom, free fire, and more, which are also letting the gamers of India rewarded with real cash prizes among a list of other rewards.
The large youth population and the rapid penetration of the internet have made the country really witness a gaming revolution that includes fantasy sports and social gaming platforms over the past decade or so. To name one of the most popular gaming hubs in India is to talk about WinZO. The New Delhi-based social gaming platform is well-known for offering monetary benefits and prizes to players from around the country.
Founded by Paavan Nanda and Saumya Singh Rathore in 2018, WinZO has been ingeniously developed as a vernacular gaming platform to tap into the Indian audiences hailing from Tier 2, 3, and 4 cities.
WinZO offers an array of popular games from PubG to cricket, rummy, and more, which make up an enviable collection of 100+ games that reward users online. Read about WinZO Games, Founders and Team, Business model, Revenue Model, Growth, Funding and Investors, Name, Tagline, Logo, Awards, Challenges, Future Plans, and more.
WinZO is a microtransactions-powered vernacular entertainment platform, which has 100+ games served in 5 formats to users in 10+ regional languages. The diverse game offerings include hyper-casual games such as Candy Crush, Metro Surfer, Carrom, Chess, Ludo, and Pool to Mid-core flagship esports IPs like Free Fire.
WinZO is a member of the All India Gaming Federation (AIGF) and FICCI. It is also known as the proud sponsor of Patna Pirates, Gujarat Giants, and Bengal Warriors.
WinZO is built with the idea of emerging as the ‘Netflix of Gaming’- one platform with games to play with your friends. To boost the gaming infrastructure in the country, WinZO partners with individual, mid-size, and large global studios to bring a variety of games to its users on a single platform.
The social gaming startup also helps the developers improve their revenue by providing them with an alternative and a far more efficient model of monetization led by microtransactions rather than conventional in-app purchases and advertisements. The partner developers of WinZO have clocked 100 more revenues from their games on WinZO in India as compared to their distribution channels such as Google Play Store, Apple Store, etc.
In the short term, WinZO aspires to be the preferred platform of choice for both its stakeholders- gamers in Bharat (Tier 2 – Tier 5) and game developers. The company is always innovating and bringing products and features to empower its users and game developers.
Also, their decentralized language management portal has empowered housewives and college-going students by helping them earn up to Rs 30,000 per month, thereby letting them become financially independent. Here, they only needed to help localize their product and add languages, remotely from their homes. For game developers, WinZO has come up with the Developers’ consoles to facilitate their outreach to the company and become more entrepreneurial in game development in light of assured revenue streams of up to 100x.
In the long term, WinZO envisions serving as a one-stop platform for all mobile-first entertainment media in India and other developing markets driven by the power of communities and microtransactions.
The company is empowering all its stakeholders on multiple fronts. The primary problem that WinZO started to solve was the efficient monetization of games in developing economies where in-app purchases and advertisements do not work. Through their microtransaction model, where 200 million+ microtransactions are clocked per month, their partner studios have witnessed growth up to 100X in their revenues. Hence, the model definitely has proved to be effective.
WinZO Products/Services
WinZO is an off-Play Store app, which hosts 70+ casual to mid-core games in 5 formats and 10 Indian regional languages. The games range from rummy, pool, carrom, ludo, call break, bingo, chess, 29 card games, archery game, bubble shooter, and more.
Users here get the thrill of competition and instant gratification. It also ensures the personalization of content to serve users with relevant games based on their engagement patterns on the platform. The company is developing a community of gamers who can engage and compete with each other via features such as WinZO Versus.
To make outreach easier for the developers, they have also launched WinZO Developer Console where any developer can sign up and submit content for integration on the app. The console has garnered massive traction, with over 1,000 games being submitted from across the globe. It also provides real-time analytics related to the game for efficient monitoring of the performance and ensuring transparency. WinZO also offers WinZO store, which brings gaming coupons, Gaana coupons, Nykaa coupons, and more.
WinZO is in the Indian online gaming industry, which was projected to reach a market size of $60 billion by 2034 in a 2025 report by WinZO and IEIC. WinZO targets a user base of over 250 million registered users in India, with a focus on the “Tier 2-Tier 5” audience in smaller towns and rural areas, alongside its recent expansion into the US and other international markets. The company relied mainly on the Tier 2 cities and beyond to achieve the estimated growth.
This is because when the company scrutinized the market, they were surprised to discover that around 80% of active gamers in India are from non-metro locations. Yes, it was found out that somewhere between 40% and 60% of the overall gamer population of India are from Tier II towns and beyond. All of this helped WinZO scale fast and grow large enough to be one of the most popular gaming companies of today. The company targets the small cities of India, where the gamers’ ages range between 18 and 35 years.
WinZO – Founders and team
WinZO was co-founded by Paavan Nanda and Saumya Singh Rathore.
Co-founders of WinZO
Paavan Nanda
Paavan is an engineer from NSIT, who later went to IIM-Calcutta and to the Copenhagen Business School. He worked with Bain & Company, Abbott Labs, and Merrill Lynch before co-founding Zostel Hospitality Pvt. Ltd., which emerged with ZO Rooms, an affordable and technology-driven hostel chain. However, ZO Rooms, after a failed merger with OYO, shut down, but it failed to put a halt to the rising entrepreneurial instinct of Nanda, who then co-founded WinZO with Saumya Singh Rathore in 2018.
Saumya Singh Rathore
Saumya is the co-founder of the vernacular social gaming platform, WinZO. She has a Master’s in Psychology from The University of Manchester and eventually obtained a degree in Chartered Psychologist with the British Psychological Society. Saumya had already worked with Paavan Nanda in Zo Rooms before the duo decided to found WinZO.
WinZO, currently, is a tight-knit team of around 40 young, enthusiastic, passionate, and talented people who believe in the company’s vision and hustle together to work on the most advanced cutting-edge technologies and provide the best value to the users. When the team closed its Series A and had 5 Million+ users, it was only a 9-member team.
The work culture at WinZO is as vibrant, customer-focused, and fun as it might be imagined in a gaming venture. The team works hard at exemplary execution speed to push great new exciting features for the users and each small achievement is appreciated and celebrated. Weekly office parties and milestone celebrations also bring extra motivation and energy to the team.
“We at WinZO believe that hiring right is more effective than hiring fast – peer interviews is how you get on with the mission. It is always a great support to have a team which is self-motivated, target driven, accountable and committed to the vision. Hence, we hire the best talent with the right value alignment with the company’s core values.”, said Paavan Nanda, co-founder of WinZO.
Most of our relatively new colleagues have joined us through the recommendations from their friends already working with us as they wanted to be a part of our journey to build the Netflix of Gaming and solve some of the most challenging tech problems of the country – Saumya Singh Rathore, co-founder of WinZO.
WinZO – Startup Story | How was WinZO Started?
WinZO was conceptualized after studying the revolution that affordable smartphones and Reliance Jio had created in India in 2015-16, by providing users from even the remotest corners of the country, with powerful devices and affordable high-speed internet connections. Thanks to this revolution, India became the global leader in in-game downloads.
However, there was clearly a problem of efficient monetization for games in high-potential developing markets that needed to be solved. This marked the journey of WinZO. To validate the concept, WinZO was launched as a subscription-based trivia app to monitor the user acceptance of the model.
Based on the encouraging results of this POC, they launched a micro-transaction powered vernacular hyper-casual gaming platform where users pay small sums of INR 2 – INR 25 to participate in real-time multiplayer games and win prizes from the pool of rewards set aside for them. This model had the elements of regional language, real-time competition, and affordability in consuming content yet paying for it. Together, these made WinZO an instant hit among the users of vernacular Bharat.
WinZO focuses on competitive multiplayer gaming experiences and is charged with the mission to create a culturally relevant mobile games platform with a broad rate of adoption.
WinZO aims to lead the Indian online gaming ecosystem with an expansive influencer network that is capable of catering to 50+ million registered users of the platform.
WinZO – USP and Innovation
WinZO’s USP has always been its innovative and inclusive approachto solving real-life problems. While the intuitive approach for any gaming company would be to tap the easier metro and tier-1 audience first, WinZO saw and successfully tapped the potential of the real Bharat (Tier 2-Tier 5 towns, rural India) through its deep-down distribution strategy.
To facilitate this, they offer the support of 10+ regional Indian languages on the app. Their vision is to democratize entrepreneurship: They have decentralized language management through their portal to engage women who work from home to get a truly vernacular experience for players in Bharat.
For game developers, WinZO has helped them become more entrepreneurial in game development in light of assured and sustainable revenue streams. As many developers aren’t aware of the intricacies of this complex market, their 80% paying active user base ensures that the games are generating revenue from day 1 at no user acquisition expenses for the developers.
The team took ‘ZO’ from their previous venture ZO Rooms/Zostel. ZO stands for speed & energy – so it’s winning fast! Plus, when they Googled the word, they didn’t find anything, so that solved the SEO hassles with no money spent!
WinZO Logo
WinZO – Business Model and Revenue Model
As per App Annie 2018 Gaming Report, India stood highest in terms of Game downloads – at the same time in the bottom 10 for in-app purchases. The problem that WinZO is addressing is fairly simple: Bharat is in love with Gaming, but the Quality Studios/Independent developers do not see much potential in Bharat.
The WinZO Business Model is simple – Build the Gaming Ecosystem in Bharat.It aims to do that in three ways:
Provide a one-stop Game Developer Console to the Gaming Studios – where it can publish the games and earn revenues out of it.
Charge platform commission fees from all the games and share the revenue with the Game Developers via its Console.
Offer employment opportunities to students and housewives across Bharat to provide content for quizzes via its indigenous portal.
The most challenging part that WinZO faced was generating the feeling of trust in the minds of the users, who were seated in the remote areas of Bharat.
“What has worked well for us is – the entire product was on beta for at least six months and we were on stealth mode. We generated lots of insights around how to build trust and the product is designed for the users of Bharat who are from tier 2/3/4 towns. We also decided to be vernacular and be transparent to our users so that it’s easy for them to build trust on the platform.”, said Paavan Nanda.
As a result, they are now available in around 12 Regional Languages and nearly 90% of their audience is from the tier 2/3/4 towns of Bharat.
A significant other challenge is profitability, which the company is yet to gain, as reported last in FY20.
WinZO Copyright Infringement
WinZO has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against gaming giant Mobile Premier League (MPL) because it thinks that the latter has copied its gaming format “World War”. World War is a game launched by WinZO in April 2020, which currently boasts around 80 million registered users. As far as reports, WinZO has already applied for a patent for the invention and copyright registration with regards to the expression of the format and trademark of World War.
It all started when WinZO discovered that MPL has allegedly copied the format and the name of the game. However, it took down the format from its platform as soon as it was informed of the same but the latter again started with “Team Clash”, which allegedly used the same format that was identical to “World War”. Besides, the notifications/popups and more that were sent to the users were also similar. Following the discovery of this new game, WinZO has already sent a legal notice to MPL, who doesn’t want to take down the format this time, as of June 4th 2022 reports.
The company raised its seed money, an undisclosed amount from K-Start. WinZO has also set up a fund of $1.5 Million to support Game Developers in India. On July 2, 2021, WinZO announced raising an amount of $65 million on a Series C funding round led by California-based Griffin Gaming Partners. The company has raised a total of $110.5 million in its fundraising to date.
Here is the list of WinZO funding rounds:
Date
Stage
Amount
Investor
July 2, 2021
Series C
$65 million
Griffin Gaming Partners
May 3, 2021
Series B
$13 Million
–
April 9, 2021
Debt Financing
$9.5 Million
–
September 3, 2020
Series B
$18 Million
Courtside Ventures, Makers Fund
April 17, 2020
Seed Round
–
–
February 22, 2019
Series A
$5 Million
Hike, Kalaari Capital
WinZO – Acquisitions
WinZO acquired Upskillz Games in its maiden acquisition on June 21, 2022. The deal was an all-cash deal with which a majority stake in Upskillz was acquired by WinZO. Mannit Sidhu founded Upskillz Games in December 2020, which already boasts of having a month-on-month (MoM) growth rate of 75% since it started. Besides, it also had a captive user base of 1.3 mn users, along with blockchain and Web3 offerings, all of which will be added by WinZO now.
Company Name
Date
Deal Value
Upskillz Games
June 21, 2022
–
WinZO – Advertisements and Campaigns
MS Dhoni – Brand Ambassador of WinZO
In 2022, WinZO brought on MS Dhoni as its brand ambassador. Since then, the legendary cricketer has appeared in several of the brand’s ads. According to the company, having MS Dhoni as the face of the brand will boost awareness and engagement within India’s social gaming community, helping to establish social and interactive gaming. Paavan Nanda, co-founder of WinZO, said, “With MS Dhoni, we aim to bring social gaming to people across all ages and genders in this country.”
WinZO has partnered with popular YouTuber Ajey Nagar, commonly referred to as CarryMinati, to serve as its brand ambassador on January 19, 2022. After CarryMinati, WinZO trumps by choosing “BB ki vines” feat, Filmfare recipient digital sensation Bhuvan Bam as its brand ambassador, as the company PR goes dated February 15, 2022. The Vernacular Online Gaming Giant announced that this collaboration with BB will help the company create culturally relevant content that would be relatable even for the persons belonging to the remoter sections of the country.
The Indian content creator from Faridabad, who boasts of having over 34 million subscribers will now be coming up with interesting game-related content that will unique, engaging, and relatable on his streaming channel ‘Carryislive’. Furthermore, he also signed up for another solo integration on his major YouTube channel ‘CarryMinati‘ as part of this relationship. Here’s what WinZO Co-founder Saumya Singh Rathore remarked on this development,
“We are thrilled to have him on board. We collectively hope to further our vision of promoting the spirit of winning and culturally relevant content across Bharat.”
The New Delhi-based interactive social gaming company declared that it will be the official sports brand partner of the Ranveer Singh film ’83’ in December 2021.
India’s largest social gaming and entertainment platform has partnered with the Ogilvy Chairman of Global Creative and Executive Chairman Piyush Pandey to launch its multilingual brand campaign to deliver ‘winning moments’ through a relatable social platform in December 2021.
The campaign that was launched with the tagline and hashtag “Jeetne mein Kick hai” by Leo Burnett Orchard has won a creative mandate for the same, as per reports dated December 2020.
WinZO – Advisors and Mentors
Kalaari is not only an investor but a great partner who is guiding the company all along the way as they are building this for Bharat. It is very important to note that WinZO is Kalaari’s second-largest bet in gaming, second only to Dream11. The team gets to learn a lot from how Harsh managed to build a profitable venture in the Indian Startup ecosystem.
WinZO is fortunate to have had Revant Bhate & Rahul Garg come in very early to push them to build this product with a sharp focus on unit economics. A fund like Kalaari has vast exposure to what works and what doesn’t in the long term. This early understanding would help them to build sustainably.
“We also have received a huge support from Kavin Bharti Mittal who has also backed the venture. Kavin is one of the finest product experts and his insights are always critical in building WinZO as the entertainment destination for Bharat. He has tremendous experience in building and distributing Hike – a home grown tech unicorn.”, said Pavaan Nanda.
WinZO – Recognition and Achievements
WinZO received the following awards and recognitions in the past couple of years since they started their journey:
Digital entertainment platform WinZO has announced its official launch in the US, expanding its international footprint.
“The launch of WinZO in the US is a proud milestone for us and for India’s digital entertainment ecosystem. Our vision has always been to empower Indian game developers to reach global audiences. Entering the US, the world’s largest and most influential gaming market, is a decisive step towards that mission,” said Saumya Singh Rathore and Paavan Nanda, cofounders of WinZO.
The company also announced the launch of ZO TV, a short-video platform. “This further diversifies our content offerings and strengthens WinZO’s position as a global hub and one-stop destination for interactive entertainment,” Rathore added. WinZO’s expansion into the US is a critical part of its strategy to become the global go-to consumer technology platform for all new-age content consumption, the company said. After diversifying its formats and monetisation strategies, WinZO is now leapfrogging into geographical expansion.
FAQs
What is WinZO?
WinZO can be described as one of India’s largest social gaming and entertainment platform that was launched in 2018. WinZO offers its platform to third-party game developers who can host their games and earn up to 100X in revenue.
Is WinZO a Chinese app?
No, WinZO App is an Indian App headquartered in New Delhi, India.
What is WinZO launch date?
WinZO was launched in 2018.
Is WinZO App legal?
Yes, WinZO was founded in 2018 and is a 100% legal and genuine gaming platform that operates in most of the states in India. It is in fact counted to be one of India’s best gaming apps in the social category.
Who is the owner of WinZO?
Paavan Nanda and Saumya Singh Rathore are the Founders of WinZO.
Who is the CEO of WinZO?
Paavan Nanda is the Co-founder and CEO of WinZO.
How does WinZO make money?
WinZO makes money through in-app purchases, advertising, and partnerships with game developers and brands. Players spend money on virtual goods, while ads and brand collaborations generate additional revenue.
Is WinZO app safe?
Yes, the WinZO app is generally considered safe. The platform collaborates with the security community to ensure its services and data are protected. However, as with any app, it’s important to download it from trusted sources like Google Play or the App Store and follow security best practices.
Is WinZO gold real or fake?
WinZO is certified for Real Money Gaming, meaning it meets strict regulatory standards for financial transactions. This certification guarantees that all monetary activities on the platform, such as deposits and withdrawals, are secure and transparent.
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verifiedinformation ondifferent startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by Hike.
Development in the communication sector has been fast and amazing. From letters to landline phones; from pagers to smartphones, we have come a long way. And now, one of the most loved ways of communicating is messaging apps, which are making communication not just easy but fun too!
Speaking of the most trending messaging apps, one name that we won’t afford to miss is the Hike Messenger app owned by Kavin Bharti Mittal. With over 100 million users, this homegrown messaging app of India has given fair competition to WhatsApp, the world’s most preferred messenger app. Founded by Kavin Bharti Mittal in 2012, Hike Messenger was once a billion-dollar startup. However, it failed to capitalise on the headstart it received, and slackened down through the years ultimately to be shut down.
Hike Messenger is Officially Shut down and has been removed from Google Play Store and Apple App Store. However, the company still exists. Yes, though Hike has been shutdown as a messenger, the company has not stopped altogether. It is currently aiming to build a web3 gaming platform (Rush Gaming Universe), and might also successfully pivot. Of its messaging platform, the Hike Stickers can still be used though on other platforms like Signal, Whatsapp, and Telegram by downloading “Stickers by Hike”.
The company has constantly looked for monetisation plans through which it would be benefitted and had also pivoted on numerous occasions, but it failed on most occasions. The Hike messenger app certainly failed with the tough competition it got from Whatsapp. However, there was one occasion where it tried to create a super app, it focused on Hike Sticker Chat, it turned the way of gateway for microtransactions with HikeLand, and has finally decided to launch Vibe and Rush in 2021, with a complete focus on multiplying the app revenues.
Read on to know more about this successful Indian startup, its founder, startup story, business and revenue model, its current revenues, competitors, funding and investors, growth, acquisitions, future plans and more.
Hike Messenger Officially Shuts Down (Latest News)
Hike shut down its messaging service, by shifting its focus to two new social products—Rush and Vibe. It was rebranded as Hike Sticker Chat with a sticker-centric experience in April 2019
11/ Finally → StickerChat by hike.
Millions of users spending 35 mins / day.
A very loyal user base that has been a fantastic launchpad for us to bring our innovations to the market → HikeMoji & HikeLand.
On January 6, 2021, Hike informed its users that it will be shutting down its messenger and was given a deadline till January 14 to migrate their data.
Kavin Mittal didn’t give a reason for shutting down the service, Mittal tweeted that global network effects are too strong for India to have its own messenger.
India won’t have its own messenger.
Global network effects are too strong (unless India bans Western companies)@telegram UX, Groups better than @signalapp
Both are very good. As entities they have the right incentives (more aligned with consumers) unlike FB products.
Hike is an Indian app and essentially is a cool messaging platform for chatting with funky and killer stickers that came in to innovate the messaging world. Hike, founded in 2012 by Kavin Bharti Mittal, was the first messaging and social technology company made in India. Some of the features of Hike are:
Two-way option: This option on Hike enables the users to add or accept the contacts before messaging and also the application has security measures that allow the users to prevent messages from strangers.
Offline messages: The users can receive message notifications even when the mobile data is disabled.
Free SMS: Hike messenger allows its users to send free SMS to any given number.
Theme-based interface: The whole idea of Hike is having conversations using some interesting graphic mediums like reaction stickers etc.
Hike Messenger introduced HikeLand
Tencent-backed Hike Messenger has introduced a new offering called HikeLand which is a mobile virtual world where people can participate in many activities. HikeLand allows users to hang out with their friends and watch videos together in a virtual environment. The move has come when sharing experiences via social networks has strengthened due to people staying at homes.
The early preview of HikeLand includes two shared experiences – ‘Home’ and ‘Big Screen’.
It explained that the home screen will be only for the user themselves, more like a private space. In this mode, users can watch YouTube videos and talk about it with another user. There will be eight themes to choose from and the home screen can be customized depending on the likes of the user. No one who is uninvited can enter this room.
The Big screen, on the other hand, is unlike Home and is more open. Hike’s Big Screen allows users to watch videos with other people. To start with, Big Screen is currently powered by YouTube and would be running shows 24×7 around comedy, sports, and others. Users that enjoy similar content can be a part of it. While viewing the show/video of choice, users can find out more about others watching the same content through their profiles and even message them.
1/ We’ve been wondering why the world is still using decade old social experiences built for the 2G world – Messaging, Feed etc → It's time to move on
“With advancements in technology, so much is possible today that wasn’t even just a few years ago. The world has evolved, it’s time for social products as well. With HikeLand, we’re launching the world’s first mobile-first Virtual World. A brand new take on how people can hangout online, transcending beyond the limitations of the offline world”, Hike founder and CEO Kavin Bharti Mittal said.
The company said HikeLand is a homegrown product that has been built from the ground up keeping India in mind.
“It is an India-first product built for a mobile-first/mobile-only audience. Leveraging diversity of art skills and resources, HikeLand also brought together a design team of not only UI (user interface) and UX (user experience) but also fashion, art, and 3D artists”, it added.
Rush Gaming Universe
Hike introduced Rush Avatar. It would be debuting with Rush Avatar, which is planned to stand as an NFT and digital identity for the Rush users, thereby moving the Rush Gaming Universe to the blockchain on February 28, 2022.
The Rush Avatar NFTs would be offered by Hike for free to the most active members of its community, where the rarest editions would go to the most active members. Furthermore, it has also been decided that 10% of the Launch Edition’s supply would be further used for future community giveaways, NFT sales, and partnerships.
The messenger app company has previously tried to pivot via a super app business, where Hike planned to integrate the digital wallet, ticketbooking and ecommerce services into the app. However, this didn’t pay off well for the company, which is why it ended the same idea in 2019. hike then tried to run its Hike Sticker Chat, focusing on it largely, but even this didn’t materialize profitably for the company, and was shuttered in January 2021. HikeLand was the next venture that it tried, where Hike turned into a gateway for microtransactions, and in-app spending.
Launched in June 2020, HikeLand saw a good traction right form its testing days, where the users spent a minimum of 50 minutes in the app on an average. This is why the HikeLand idea was again integrated into Vibe and Rush. Hike launched Vibe and Rush in 2021, where:
Vibe is a rebranded version of HikeLand and offers interactive social media experiences to the customers.
Rush is a mini-games platform by Hike, which would offer the users casual gaming experiences that will include microtransactions.
Hike also has HikeMoji, which extends animated avatars for the users, and will further be incorporated into Vibe and Rush.
“With Vibe & Rush, we now have 2 Virtual Worlds that focus on a single ‘Job to be Done’ each thus simplifying the UX. A much better approach for today’s world that is unconstrained by cheap, fast data & powerful smartphones,” tweeted Mittal recently.
Before he started his venture, the founder of hike was studying Electronics and Electrical Engineering at the University of New York and then went on to Imperial College in London to study further. He first joined McLaren Racing as an Associate Vehicle Engineer Intern, after which he joined as an Associate Technology Manager at Google. Then it was Goldman Sachs that Mittal joined as Summer Analyst before founding Hike, where he is still serving as the Co-founder and CEO.
All of this was based on a basic insight to make the messaging module a little bit more interesting, and right when the world was busy chatting on Whatsapp and Facebook, Kavin, owner of the hike app, thought of coming up with a trendy and cool way of messaging. This is why Hike was launched on 12-12-12. It’s quite interesting that this application was made available in more than 100 countries ever since its launch.
Hike Messenger – Name, Tagline and Logo
Hike 4.0 launched on 26 August 2015 with the tagline ‘Got a Gang? Get on Hike’
Hike Logo
Hike ran a full fledged marketing and brand campaign across TV, radio, and Cinemas. The tagline for one of their TV ad was “Hike up your life” to convince youth to download the Hike app.
Hike Messenger – Business and Revenue Model
Hike Messenger believed in providing the users with an interactive social media chatting app that helped them to communicate and make their communication interesting via an amusing set of stickers. It later went on to build a virtual economy business model.
Hike’s operational revenues were disclosed to be Rs 13K in FY20, while its total revenues stood at Rs 11.9 cr during the same fiscal. Almost all of its revenue came from sources other than the operations of the company, which includes the interest income on fixed deposits, current investments and more. There was around 55% decline in the Hike revenues from FY19, where the messenger picked up revenues close to Rs 26.4 cr and around a 70% decline from Rs 39.6 cr revenues, which it pulled off in FY18.
Hike Messenger – User Acquisition
Operating in multiple countries can be a tedious task but Hike kept the users glued to the app using multiple marketing methods.
Following that, in August 2013, Hike launched its first-ever digital campaign which ran under the banner “keep your friends close”. The advertisement was a big hit and the users took it very well. Kavin knew that the key to any successful business is customer satisfaction. Hence the team started taking in real-time feedback from the users for further and better development of the product.
What also worked well for Hike was their tie-up with Airtel. They ran a scheme that if the user had an Airtel postpaid connection in India, they would be given free data for three months for using Hike Messenger. This campaign gave Hike the needed hike in their consumer base.
Hike also tied up with various brands like Dominos, CCD, Pizza Hut for discount coupons. This intrigued the actual customers and brought potential customers on board. With all these creative marketing strategies, Hike gained a base of 15 million loyal customers in just one year of inception.
Hike Messenger – Competitors
Hike Messenger competes with messaging platforms like WhatsApp, WeChat, Signal, Viber, and Telegram. All these platforms have a great market standing and each has its own set of user bases. Though Hike provides a unique kind of interface, it still faces cut-throat competition from these platforms.
Hike has raised over $261M in funding over 7 rounds. Their last funding was raised on Aug 24, 2021 from a Venture round led by Justin Mateen and Sean Rad. The round further saw participation from Kunal Shah, Binny Bansal, Softbank Vision Fund CEO Rajeev Mishra and others. Hike hasn’t disclosed the amount yet. After this, Hike recently received an undisclosed amount of funding from Jump Crypto, Tribe Capital and Republic Crypto, which came on May 6, 2022, and is reported to be utilised for its web3 gaming platform, Rush Gaming Universe (RGU). Developing RGU’s product strategy and hiring new talents across verticals would be the sole aim of the funding that Hike received via this Venture round.
The recent funds, according to the company, will be utilized to hire skilled employees across a wide range of sectors in order to improve the product strategy of Hike.
Date
Stage
Amount
Investors
May 6, 2022
Venture Round
–
–
August 24 2021
Corporate Round
–
Sean Rad, Justin Mateen
August 16, 2016
Series D
$175M
Foxconn Technology Group, Tencent Holdings
January 11, 2016
Venture Round
–
–
August 26, 2014
Series C
$65M
Tiger Global Management
March 31, 2014
Series B
$14M
Bharti Soft Bank
April 25, 2013
Series A
$7M
Bharti Soft Bank
Hike was launched in 2012 and soon after in the next year they raised $7 million from Bharti, SoftBank and others. This funding went straight into launching the most popular USP of the app – STICKERS to increase their customer engagement. In March 2014, Hike raised $14 Million from Bharti SoftBank, and put this money into more innovative features on the application, soon Hike crossed the 20 Million user mark. In August 2014, Hike again raised $65 Million from Tiger Global.
In January 2016, Hike raised an undisclosed amount in a venture round. Again, in August 2016, Hike raised around $175 million led by Tencent and Foxconn Technology Group in a Series D round. With this latest round of funding, the startup was valued at $1.4 billion and achieved the “unicorn” status. However, its valuation decreased eventually and it lost its unicorn valuation.
In just one year of its launch, Hike was rated #1 App on Android Playstore, iOS Appstore, and Windows Store and had a customer base of 15 million.
In 7 years, more than 35 million user base out of which 60% of the base is in India and the rest is in Germany, the Middle East, and other countries around the globe.
The Hike Messenger revenues dropped significantly in FY20, which was valued at Rs 11.9 cr lately in FY20. Along with its revenues, the company also witnessed a decline of its operational income, expenses and losses throughout the years.
Hike Operational Revenue Decline
Years
Hike Operational Revenue
FY20
Rs 13K
FY19
Rs 3.5 lakhs
FY18
Rs 51 lakhs
Hike Expenses Decline
Hike’s expenses and losses also dropped. However, this was rather due to the decline of its operations rather than its business growth. The company’s total expenses were noted to be Rs 193 crore in FY20, which is 16% and 56% lower than the previous years, FY19, FY18 respectively. The losses of Hike also declined at the rate of 12% YOY.
Years
Hike Expenses
FY20
Rs 193 cr
FY19
Rs 232 cr
FY18
Rs 439.2 cr
Hike Losses Decline
Years
Hike Losses
FY20
Rs 181 cr
FY19
Rs 205.8 cr
FY18
Rs 399.5 cr
The company spent around Rs 193 cr in FY20, which was 16% lower that what it expended in FY19, and around 56% lower than what it spent in FY18.
Hike Expenses Breakdown
Hike Expenses Verticals
FY20
FY19
Employee benefits
Rs 81.7 cr
Rs 109.3 cr
Server cost
Rs 31.8 cr
Rs 33.6 cr
Marketing expenses
Rs 23.4 cr
Rs 24.1 cr
In app costs
Rs 6.6 cr
Rs 4 cr
Facility expenses
Rs 4.3 cr
Rs 4.7 cr
Video usage expenses
Rs 5.3 cr
Rs 7.5 cr
The most interesting fact is that Hike was once valued at around $1.4 bn, and was also known as one of the fastest growing unicorn then, while it failed to generate any operational revenues back then.
Hike has acquired 3 organizations – CREO, InstaLively, and Thought Mechanics.
Their most recent acquisition was CREO on Aug 11, 2017. CREO is on a mission to build software that empowers every device to deliver new experiences every month. Thought Mechanics is a web development company acquired by Hike in January 2015. InstaLively helps broadcast your event Live in just a single click. Hike acquired InstaLively in June 2017.
Acquired
Date
January 2015
Thought Mechanics
June 2017
InstaLively
August 2017
CREO
Hike has invested in WinZO on Feb 22, 2019. This investment – Series A – WinZO – was valued at $5M.
Hike Messenger – Future Plans
Hike has officially called its social messenger to quits earlier in 2021 and has not been very active since then. However, the exponential growth that online gaming and the Crypto industry have witnessed has attracted the company, which is now looking to expand on those lines.
Hike has already forayed into the gaming industry by launching a social app, Vibe, and Rush, an online gaming app. The company is now looking to start its journey with cryptocurrency by offering crypto operations and services.
Hike rolled out the NFT avatars on February 28, 2022, with an eye on its blockchain gaming universe. It upped the game with Rush Avatar, which will be an NFT and digital identity for the users.
Kavin Bharti Mittal, Founder & CEO, Hike said, “With the Rush Avatar NFT, players will now own their digital identity in the RGU. This launch brings the Rush Gaming Universe on-chain and with it we plant the seeds to build a new game economy where consumers are owners.”
Monetisation is what the Hike platform is currently looking eagerly at. With the launch of Rush, Hike has already seeing the gaming experience gradually meeting its success. However, it will be interesting to note how Hike capitalists gaming boom and would earn its revenues ahead.
FAQs
What is Hike’s origin country?
Hike is a messaging app that originated in India, and was founded by Kavin Bharti Mittal.
Is Hike a Chinese app?
No, Hike is an Indian app.
Who is Hike Indian messenger app founder?
Kavin Bharti Mittal is the founder and CEO of Indian instant messaging app Hike, and also the son of business tycoon Bharti Mittal.
Who are the Hike investors?
Hike is mainly funded by investors Foxconn Technology Group, Tencent Holdings, Tiger Global Management, and Bharti Soft Bank.
What is Hike Timeline?
Timeline is an awesome hike feature where you can post photos and status updates.
What are Hike Rewards?
Hike Rewards helps you expand your network on Hike. Invite your friends using exclusive invites offered by Hike and earn rewards by sending and receiving stickers to your friends.
Earn points and redeem them for exclusive rewards and recharges.
The growth of messaging apps has been faster than ever. Messaging apps make people stay connected no matter wherever you are. Indian Government has decided to go on their mission “vocal for local”. The announcement by WhatsApp stating the change in its data sharing policy with Facebook has annoyed the messaging app service’s users worldwide. This new policy makes it mandatory for all WhatsApp users to accept the new privacy policy that enables the sharing of user data with its parent company Facebook. The new policy came into effect from February 8, and social media was filled with continuous news. Though, whatsapp announced afterwards that all communications on WhatsApp will still be end-to-end encrypted. From Jan 1 to Jan 6, there was a sudden 79% increase in Signal app downloads can be seen, according to a TOI report. We cannot deny that over the years, the continuous usage of WhatsApp has made us dependent on it. Other Indian messaging apps will keep your data and information safe. Here some of the best made in India messaging apps as WhatsApp alternatives.
Here are some of the best messaging apps that are made in India. These can be used as an alternatives to WhatsApp with varied features.
Indian Messenger App
Indian Messenger app Logo | Best Indian messaging apps
It is developed by Loopytime private limited. It is one of the most popular chat apps in India. Indian Messenger app has done its marketing on the “vocal for local” campaign and is used by over 130k users across the country. Its features include text messaging, calling, story, chat requests, and a global search like Facebook or Instagram. It also competes with Twitter and Facebook having an interesting feature that allows users to share a message with an unlimited number of people. Indian Messenger supports images, videos, voice messages, and different file formats for seamless interaction.
Indian Messenger App – Best Indian Messaging App
Hike Sticker Chat
Hike Messenger Logo | Best Indian messaging apps
Hike Messenger, also called Hike Sticker Chat, is an Indian freeware, cross-platform instant messaging (IM), Voice over IP (VoIP) application. Hike was one of the oldest Indian messaging apps. It was built with the motto “building a new social future”. It was once the sixth-largest mobile messaging application in the world. The hike could work offline through SMS and has multi-platform support. Hike decided to go from a single super app strategy to a multiple app approach so that it can focus more on the core messaging capabilities. Hike Messenger was not an ad-driven application, neither does it sell the user data to third-party applications for revenue. Hike also introduced artificial intelligence (AI) powered HikeMoji that existed within the Hike Sticker Chat app.
JioChat is an instant messaging application with voice and video calling capability. When Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp are the two important choices for instant messaging, other chat apps such as Reliance’s JioChat made a mark due to their awesome features. One of the key features in JioChat is peer-to-peer (P2P) money transfer within the app. The feature allows JioChat users to transfer money directly to other users through chats.
JioChat features that are not available on WhatsApp:
Stories: JioChat comes with a unique feature called Stories. The section contains short videos from various genres, including news, food, entertainment, and more from sites like PinkVilla, Hindi Rush, and more.
Channels: JioChat gets a dedicated ‘Channels’ tab where you can follow popular brands, companies, and news publications to know the latest trends, news, and promotional offers.
Jio Care: JioCare channel lets you view your account related information, IUC charges, and the latest Jio cashback and recharge offers. You can also troubleshoot your network problem using the bot.
Voice Assistant: JioChat doesn’t feature its Voice Assistant yet. Instead, it integrates Google’s voice search for you to search for contact names using voice. It can be useful for people who don’t want to waste time scrolling the contact list.
Theming Options: WhatsApp only lets you select chat background and switch between light and dark themes. In comparison, JioChat lets you change theme colors as well as font colors besides chat backgrounds, similar to what you might’ve seen in WhatsApp mods.
Delay Messages: There’s a unique feature called “Delay Sending Message” in JioChat settings. Using it, you can delay the delivery of your message by up to 3 seconds.
Moods (As Status): WhatsApp lets you add a short bio as well as post video and photo status updates. Now, while JioChat lacks the latter, it does let you set your mood as your status. You can choose between different moods such as happy, busy, tired, angry, and so on to let others know how you are feeling right now.
Group Limit: JioChat lets you create groups for conversations with as many as 500 people at a time. In contrast, WhatsApp allows only 256 people in a group.
Troop Messenger
Troop Messenger Logo | Best Indian messaging apps
Troop Messenger is one of the most premium quality Indian messaging apps. It is very much suitable for office communication. Troop Messenger is a user-friendly office chat app compact with contemporary features addressing your business needs and necessities.
It provided with these features group calling, join now, remote screen sharing and controlling, instant messaging, video call and voice call, groups, wallpapers, help tile, settings, audio messaging, dashboard, orange member, profile, splashboard, burnout, live location tracking, emoji layout, sharing, read receipts, edit, respond later, flagging, search, search filters, unread messages, mute conversations, favorite users, message history, live-chat support, data record, storage, enhanced group profile, admin dashboard- groups, group controls, airtime groups, contacts management, integrations, and browser pop-out.
Namaste Bharat is one of the most-searched Indian messaging apps. Namaste Bharat has features such as messaging, group messaging, audio and video calls, audio and video conferencing, collaboration, group messaging, setting up scheduled meetings, etc. Namaste Bharat has end-to-end encryption. All messages, photos, videos, voice messages, documents, status updates, and calls are end-to-end encrypted. There is no need to turn on settings or set up special secret chats to secure your messages. This top chatting app in India offers data synchronization across multiple devices to ensure that the user does not lose all their chats. Moreover, this Indian messaging app has exclusive features for businesses.
ShareChat
ShareChat Logo | Best Indian messaging apps
ShareChat is one of the fastest-growing Indian messaging apps. ShareChat has over 160 million monthly active users across 15 languages. The company’s application offers features that include private messaging, tagging, and a personal messaging feature, enabling users to share videos, jokes, songs, and other language-based social content with other unknown users. ShareChat, made in India app has become one of the most popular chat apps in India because of its multimedia-rich interface and design. ShareChat is a Facebook-style Indian messaging app which allows user to share videos, written posts, audio, etc. The reason for ShareChat’s popularity with its users is the local language access.
ShareChat has update three new features that include private messaging, tagging, and a personal messaging feature that allows users to connect with other unknown users.
Sandes Messaging App Logo – Best Indian messaging apps
Sandes is a app made by National Informatics Center (NIC), Government of India. It is an update of Government Instant Messaging Services (GIMS). GIMS was limited to government employees only but Sandes is can be used by anyone. It has a lot of features that whatsapp offers. It also provides end to end encryption like whatsapp.
Sandes can be downloaded from GIMS website. Sign in only requires your mobile number or email-id and a OTP verification. Sandes does not necessarily require your mobile number unlike Whatsapp. Also it has verified accounts of government officials.
About Sandes Messaging App – Best Indian messaging apps
Social media is a platform dominated by various countries. The most prominent ones are based out of the United States, with China at second. However, we’ve seen a thing or two from the Indian sub-continent as well. Hike is the most popular one amongst the few Indian startups that have left a dent on the social media circuit. The Hike messaging is an Indian app and was developed by Kavin Bharti Mittal.
Kavin Bharti Mittal is the son of Bharti Mittal, one of the richest Indians. Kavin charted out his own path despite a solid business background. He grew up in a family where business was omnipresent.
Kavin found it much easier to set foot in the startup circuit when compared to his father due technological advancements. Moreover, entrepreneurship has undergone drastic changes after the nineties.
Entrepreneurial Ambitions
Apps, both mobile and web, are the basis for several ventures today. The introduction of the iPhone paved way for development of new segments hitherto unknown. Kavin Mittal picked up the basics of entrepreneurship from his dad. The father-son relationship was also a mentor-mentee relationship that helped groom the lad in various ways.
Kavin witnessed the launch of applications like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube while in college. These platforms and the digital world in general—inspired Kavin to launch his first venture, Appspark. He saw an iPhone during his internship at Google in New York and was in awe of the device’s potential to change lives of people. Apple’s App Store was still in infancy, and Kavin thought of launching one idea every month, thereby creation and launch of eight apps on the App Store in eight months. This dream remained elusive as Kavin witnessed the hurdles transforming an idea from a figment of imagination to reality. After eight months of struggle, Kavin created his first app, Movies Now. It was the first-ever movie reservation app on the App Store. It allowed users to stream trailers both in HD and SD prints. Since the number of competing apps was negligible, Movies Now never received real competition.
The introduction of the iPad saw Movies Now improvise and get enhanced. It functioned much better than the earlier versions. While Movies Now was popular, it wasn’t an actual money spinner. Kavin had to think of another way to prove himself as a successful entrepreneur.
After returning to India, Kavin was living a normal life in New Delhi, the nation’s capital. He saw majority of the people in Delhi own the iconic Nokia 1100, the phone which set the ball rolling for the technology revolution in India. However, the phone had its limitations since it could only send SMS and be used for normal calls. Internet access was impossible. This limitation spurred Kavin’s willingness to bring Indians and internet closer, and inspired him to create a messaging platform—Hike. His team received funds worth $7 million from Bharti SoftBank, a collaboration between Bharti Enterprises and SoftBank, a Japanese telecom company.
After a series of developments, Hike was officially launched in the year 2012. Within two years, Hike Messenger became the most downloaded application on the App Store (in India) and the Play Store(in India).
Kavin’s smartness and strategy had a major hand to play in this achievement. After launching the app, he introduced the concept of “stickers”. This concept was recently implemented by WhatsApp—another messaging platform. The stickers in Hike were catchy and innovative, and attracted the youth. Thus, these stickers were imperative for surge in Hike’s popularity. While the platform was gaining prominence throughout India, Hike tied-up with Airtel and launched a policy in which if a user had an Airtel postpaid connection, the service provider gave free mobile data for 3 months to use Hike.
To keep up with the trend, Hike also launched unique two-way chat themes that were liked by many Hike users and attracted several new customers. This proved to be a master strategy since the company got a solid 15 million users strong base by the end of its first year. Hike gave stiff competition to other messaging apps like WhatsApp.
According to Kavin, an entrepreneur must have a clear idea about their field of work. They need to decide between offline and online space. Finalizing the idea of the startup is one of the most important aspects for creating a business, Kavin mentions.
Failures and mistakes accompany growth. Learning from mistakes is the most important quality an entrepreneur should possess. As errors are an inevitable part of business, one should be ready to withstand them and grow as a leader.
Another important mantra is to strive to achieve one’s goals. Despite failures, an entrepreneur should work on improvement and not stop until the target is achieved.
The fourth mantra of success according to Kavin is passion. No one can become successful without having a passion about something. That’s the key to making it big.
The fifth of his mantras is patience. Patience has taken successful entrepreneurs to unfathomable levels of prosperity. Success is never achieved overnight; one has to wait for the right moment and work tirelessly to achieve fame.
FAQs
Who is Kavin Mittal?
Kavin Bharti Mittal is an Indian internet entrepreneur. He is known for having founded and led Hike Messenger, a now-defunct platform that was once the world’s sixth-largest mobile messaging application.
Instant messaging is a common thing in the current communication landscape. Also, real-time messaging is one of the simplest ways to connect with our friends or coworkers. WhatsApp and Telegram are considered as the major apps in instant messaging apps. They both are constantly working on updates to improve the user experience.
Currently, there are so many messaging apps and services are available. But this field becomes a bit narrow if privacy and security are your main concerns. Using SMS and email as a means of communication is not a very secure option. Both are easily disrupted. And it is passing through mediators, so there is a scope for intrusion into privacy.
WhatsApp and Telegram are major rivals in instant messaging apps industry. Both apps have strengths and weaknesses, but there is one common thing. That is encryption. That means that the messages you send are being scrambled so that they cannot be read even if someone intercepts them. Let us discuss more about these two messaging tools.
WhatsApp Messenger is a freeware application for messaging and Voice over IP service. WhatsApp is founded by Brian Acton and Jan Koum in 2009. Currently, it is owned by Facebook, Inc. It enables users to make voice and video calls, send voice messages and text messages, share documents, images, user locations, and other media. We can access the application from mobile devices and desktop computers.
Number of WhatsApp users from 2014 to 2020
The application allows you to communicate with anyone in your contact list, who uses WhatsApp. The users need to provide a standard cellular mobile number for registering and using the service. WhatsApp launched a business app named WhatsApp Business in January 2018. It enables companies to communicate with consumers who utilize the standard WhatsApp client.
Advantages
The interface is very fast, simple, and easy to use. The application can be easily used by people of all ages without any external help.
By 2015, it had become the most popular messaging app in the world. WhatsApp has 2 billion users worldwide as of 2020.
The application is not only for sending text messages. Users are also able to make video and audio calls through WhatsApp.
It enables us to listen to an audio message without earphones in public areas. If you bring the phone close to your ear when the audio message is being played, the audio volume will decrease and you can listen to it as on a call.
All your conversations on WhatsApp are end-to-end encrypted. So, your messages are safe and cannot be read or accessed by anyone except you and the person with whom you communicate. Even WhatsApp can’t see your chats.
WhatsApp is free of cost. We are able to use WhatsApp without spending a single penny.
We can keep important messages by starring them. It enables us to find those messages under a specific category. Also, it becomes more easily discoverable.
WhatsApp supports stories. So we are able to share what’s happening in the last 24 hours with contacts on WhatsApp.
iOS users can use WhatsApp hands-free with the help of Siri. Siri can read and send messages. Also, it can make calls.
It has a delivery status feature. Users can confirm that their message has been sent to the desired contact and ensure whether they have read it or not.
We are not able to send documents larger than 100 MBand video files that are more than 16 MB through WhatsApp.
The stickers are available on WhatsApp. But, WhatsApp doesn’t have animated stickers that are available on Facebook messenger.
If you don’t have a cell phone number of a person, you are not able to connect with that person through WhatsApp. We can’t find people by searching their username.
There is no logout option to sign out from our account in WhatsApp. That isn’t good for our privacy.
If we don’t opt out of the settings, WhatsApp will share our messaging meta data with Facebook. Profiles will be easily linked if you use the same phone number for Facebook and WhatsApp.
It is not easy to migrate our chat history from Android to iOS. In some times, this may require a third-party application.
There is no cloud sync in WhatsApp. The messages will not be stored on WhatsApp server, because of security and privacy reasons.
The number of members who can join in a single group is limited to 256 people.
Telegram is a software for instant messaging, voice over IP, and video telephony service. Telegram client apps are available for GNU/Linux, Windows, Android, iOS, and macOS. It is developed by Telegram FZ LLC in 2013. The application allows users to send messages and exchange videos, audios, photos, stickers, and different types of files. The client-side code of Telegram is a free software. But, the server-side code is a closed-source. Also, it offers APIs to independent developers. Telegram had reached 400 million active users on April 2020.
Number of Telegram users from 2014 to 2020
Advantages
It allows us to share large files of size up to 2 GB. It includes images, videos, documents, gifs, executable files and geo location.
The app has self-destructing timers for chats. It has the ability to permanently delete messages of theirs and yours, from the device.
The user interface of Telegram is customizable with so many clean looking options
We are able to create groups of up to 200,000 people.
The users are able to set an extra password for our account. We can reset it through our email. Also, there is no need to use an email if you aren’t interested.
You can share invite links to let other users instantly join your group or channel. In addition to the permanent link, you can make multiple other links with custom properties like a limited duration or number of uses. #TelegramTipspic.twitter.com/MwYobcWiCT
We can save our time with link previews and inline bots. The users are able to look things up without leaving the chat that they are in, with the help of inline bots such as @pic/bing, @gif, @vid/YouTube, etc.
There is a built-in setting to scale the UI of the app up to 200% in the desktop app. It enables users with 4k screens to utilize the app without scaling problems.
Limitless number of files can be stored permanently in the cloud, when using telegram.
Telegram has an open source MTProto encryption protocol. It gives end-to-end encryption for secret chats.
You are able to write messages to yourself. You can add links, and write notes.
The users are able to pin messages to the top of groups. All members can see that when opening the group.
We can find peoples by searching their username.
Telegram allows the users to edit or delete messages at any time.
The users are able to upload a video to their profile and select a frame for the profile picture in chats.
Telegram's Global Search helps you find public groups, channels, users and includes results from your chats. Some say it can even find the meaning of life itself. #TelegramTipspic.twitter.com/K6YiGMPrf0
We need to use secret chat function to get end-to-end encryption. Secret chat only works on mobile applications, which means there is no way to encrypt messages end to end when using web browser client or desktop client.
It is difficult to share code snippets through telegram, because the source code syntax highlighting is not available in it.
Spherical 360° photos don’t work in telegram. Because, it doesn’t support that format.
In short, WhatsApp has more user base, group video calls, and ubiquitous end-to-end encryption. But it lags behind with features like cloud storage, limited file sharing. On other hand, telegram has various bots, platform compatibility, file sharing and privacy. But, it is far behind in group video call support and their user base is small. So you need to pick depending on your choices.
FAQ’s
Who owns Telegram?
Telegram is owned by the same two people who founded the company in Russia back in 2013, Pavel Durov and his brother Nikolai. Pavel is also the company’s CEO.
Why do people use Telegram?
The reason for this is Telegram’s enhanced use of the cloud. Essentially, it stores all of your messages and photos on a secure server. This means you can access them from any connected device, making Telegram much more multi-platform friendly than other chat apps like WhatsApp. Another security feature is usernames.
Why use telegram over WhatsApp?
Even though WhatsApp has more than 1.3 billion users worldwide, the features offered by Telegram like secret chat, self-destructing messages, encrypted backup ensure more secured chats. Apart from security features, Telegram is also ahead of WhatsApp in terms of other features like Dark Mode and larger group capacity.
Is it safe to use WhatsApp?
Although end-to-end encryption makes WhatsApp more secure than other communication apps, no app is 100 percent safe to use. Like any app or digital device, WhatsApp is often targeted by bad actors.
What’s the point of using WhatsApp?
WhatsApp is a free, multiplatform messaging app that lets you make video and voice calls, send text messages, and more — all with just a Wi-Fi connection. With over 2 billion active users, WhatsApp is especially popular among friends and family who live in different countries and want to stay in touch.
Who uses WhatsApp the most?
There are over 340 million WhatsApp users in India alone, making it the leading country in terms of WhatsApp audience size. Second-ranked Brazil had 99 million WhatsApp messenger users. Mobile messenger is the most popular messaging service worldwide.
Can strangers contact you on WhatsApp?
Whatsapp is integrated with the address book in your phone. So, If a stranger wants to add you to his Whatsapp account, you must first share your cellphone number with that stranger, then he may add it to his address book and in a couple of minutes, your name will be visible in his Whatsapp messenger.
How do WhatsApp earn?
WhatsApp doesn’t earn revenue through advertisements. The founders hated advertisements and created this ad-free platform focusing just on great user experience and interface. They wanted to create an instant messaging platform for the users and not for the big companies to place ads.
How much money does Telegram make?
The venture founded by the Russian duo of brothers Pavel Durov and Nikolai Durov is valued in the range of $3-5 Billion and according to the founders will never be up for sale. These facts are astonishing since Telegram spent even 0 cents on promotion and the user base is growing organically based on the product.
How does Telegram make a profit?
Telegram does not generate revenue as it stands, with a purported commitment to keeping the company free of the influence of money. As of September 2019, funding is 100% privately generated by Pavel Durov.
Conclusion
Nowadays, most people who use smartphones are addicted to Messenger Apps. If it is a personal message or professional message, we need a platform to send texts, documents, photos and videos. All messaging platforms provide various services. But the question to be asked is. Are these platforms secure and authentic? Is WhatsApp secure? Is Telegram secure? To find that, we should do research and understand the messaging platforms accordingly. Based on the findings from research you should decide for yourself.
Nothing fails like a failure, isn’t it? And when a made-in-India technology succumbs to global competition, it hurts even more. But let’s not get emotional or philosophical about it because that’ll blur our perspective through which this case must be studied & analyzed.
In short, This Happened to Hike Messenger –
Hike shut down its messaging service, by shifting its focus to two new social products—Rush and Vibe. It was rebranded as Hike Sticker Chat with a sticker-centric experience in April 2019. (Know the detailed perspective in the article ahead!)
Is Hike Messenger an overnight success story that had to fail due to its own business, technical inadequacies? No.
Was Hike’s success a fluke, a marketing gimmick, a modern day fad that lost its appeal over time? No, it wasn’t.
Then did it give in to the pressures of business from its rival tech giants WhatsApp & WeChat? Most likely yes!
Having said that, we must know that it isn’t easy to list down top 5-10 reasons for the supposed failure of a well established, popular, financially sound co… especially in a demography like that of India. It is so big & so diverse that there could be multitude of explanations as to why a good business idea/model failed.
Let’s try & capture a Few reasons of Hike’s failure keeping this inherent truth in mind.
Lets find out! What actually happened to Hike Messenger?
Hike within a few months of its launch in Dec 2012 by Bharti Enterprises, caught user’s fancy (users which comprise mostly youth below age 30) almost immediately. Millions of users got on it, 70 M by the end of Oct 2015. WhatsApp was picking up slowly but surely in India at the time. India being a huge market, there was undoubtedly enough space & scope for another co. to succeed. Hike did just that. It kept adding millions of users month over month with addition of cool smart features like free unlimited SMS called Hike Offline, in-app news, cricket scores, personalized stickers store unlike any other app; and added many superior tech features over time such as Hike ID, Hike Wallet, Hike Direct, Hike Web (some of these outperformed WhatsApp) to enhance user experience while keeping user privacy & security intact.
So what went wrong? Why couldn’t it sustain its user base unlike its rival WhatApp? What was unique about WA? Was it just the fact that it captured the booming market of mobile phone users before tech cos. could even realize and anticipate the potential of more than 1 billion market? Probably yes. Let’s analyze further.
Hike was being hailed as the youngest startup in India to get a unicorn title, with a valuation of over 1 Billion within just 4 yrs of launch i.e. around Aug 2016. Hike was most certainly the best & biggest competitor of other widely popular Instant Messaging apps. Then came Jan 2016, when Hike revealed to press that Facebookblocked an option in its ads which allowed users to visit Hike website. FB gave no confirmation but it admitted that certain products & services can’t be advertised on its platform. Smart business decision you’d say but cutting out competition from a Co. born on the land you’re doing business in, puts the blame on the state’s unfavorable policies, inadequate regulations & not-so-friendly business environment yet, more than it does on the company. But all is not so grim, Indian startup community has begun to get its fair share of financial, policy boost.
On January 6, 2021, Hike informed its users that it will be shutting down its messenger and were given a deadline till January 14 to migrate their data.
11/ Finally → StickerChat by hike.
Millions of users spending 35 mins / day.
A very loyal user base that has been a fantastic launchpad for us to bring our innovations to the market → HikeMoji & HikeLand.
Kavin Bharti Mittal, Founder of Hike Messenger did not clearly mention the reason behind this move but tweeted on Jan 10, 2021 about it vaguely as follows-
India won’t have its own messenger.
Global network effects are too strong (unless India bans Western companies)@telegram UX, Groups better than @signalapp
Both are very good. As entities they have the right incentives (more aligned with consumers) unlike FB products.
It is a fact though, given the dominance of American tech giants globally. There isn’t another China in the world, to refuse to bow down to USA’s shrewd business practices, as yet. Even Hike’s marketing team has to share the blame for its failure. Because while WhatsApp was growing leaps & bounds, why didn’t Hike get its fare share? Why wasn’t it as conspicuous & as much talked about as its rivals WA, Telegram or Signal etc? Why wasn’t there enough buzz around it?!
All in all, the fall of Hike is as remarkable as its rise. Needs detailed study, if the start-up scene in India has to improve.
Hike, the super app may have closed its flagship IM brand but it hasn’t gone out of business or ideas. It has split up into Vibe by Hike & Rush by Hike – its two next generation apps for its loyal user base. Vibe is a community based social media platform enabling friendship & dating over secure & verified platform. Rush is an online gaming app. Well, these apps will sure have takers but given the current market scenario which is flooded with such apps…Hike sure has to innovate to set its foot in the market even if doesn’t aim to beat Tinder or Nintendo.
Conclusion
Therefore, however deeply & multifariously you look into the reasons for a big Co’s success or failure, you are bound to miss an important development or phase that must have contributed to it.
Nevertheless, if you’ve an idea you trust, and willing to take risks, there are sea of changes taking place in every business / industry, especially in technology. India is on the road to development, and in the fast lane. Hence every innovation counts in bringing along the revolution that’s happening in digital space & beyond.
Last word – Failure sure hits hard like a rock, but if you use these very rocks & turn them into what they call ‘stepping stones’, you might meet success at the very next juncture. And a budding entrepreneur must always remember that there’s never a last opportunity, just a lost one!
Hike Messenger – FAQs
Hike App is from Which Country?
Hike is a messaging app originated in India. It is headquartered in Delhi.
Who is Hike Messenger Owner?
Kavin Bharti Mittal is the founder and CEO of Indian instant messaging app Hike, and also the son of business tycoon Bharti Mittal
What happened to Hike Messenger?
Hike Messenger is Officially Shut down and has been removed from Google Play Store and Apple App Store
When was Hike Messenger Launched?
Hike Messenger was launched in 2012.
What is Hike Messenger App?
Hike was essentially a cool messaging platform for chatting with funky and killer stickers that came in to innovate the messaging world
Rishabh Rathi
