Once seen as a rival of WhatsApp, the messaging app hike is dead now. It has also been removed from the App Store and Play Store. The hike was designed to compete with WhatsApp in India. It also had the financial support of Japan’s SoftBank Group. The hike app was launched by Bharti Airtel promoter Sunil Bharti Mittal’s son Kevin Bharti Mittal.
Also read: Indian PUBG To Be Launched Soon; 20 Per cent Of The Earnings Will Be Donated To Indian Army
Market value in 2016 was 10.25 thousand crores
At the time of funding in 2016, the market value of Hike Messenger start-up was estimated to be around Rs 10,259 crore. In the following years, it probably lagged behind the competition. As a result, it was closed earlier this month. However, no official information has been given as to the reasons for discontinuing it. But it is believed that the Hike messaging app could not compete with WhatsApp as expected. India is the world’s largest market for WhatsApp, which is currently in the discussion about privacy.
Hike also had financial support from Tencent
Hike also had financial support from China’s WeChat operator Tencent Holdings. In recent years, Hike placed stakes in some or the other businesses such as no-frills phones and mobile entertainment. But there was no satisfactory success anywhere. The start-up has also closed hike stickerchat. Hike Messenger is closed at a time when the time is perfect for messaging apps to grow due to sentiments against WhatsApp worldwide.
Preparing to launch new gaming product ‘Rush’
Meanwhile, Kevin Mittal has stated that his company will continue developing Vibe social media app and will work on a new gaming app called Rush. He wrote on a post, India cannot run its own messenger because the impact of the global network is quite strong here.