Hike Messenger

The injury from WeWork debacle went beyond money... It may now mean the joyride for startups funded by SoftBank is over and it's time for them to show the money.

WeWork Debacle | A wake up call for not just Softbank, but Indian startup founders and their investors too

A look at Masayoshi Son’s investments in Indian startups like Oyo and Ola would show Softbank’s inclination to invest at inflated valuations. It is time startup founders and their financial backers stop bluffing

Hike Messenger to go strong on hyperlocal strategy, target small cities  

The company's target is to bring a billion people online, and it said that would only be possible when its users are able to communicate in their respective languages.

Hike Messenger acqui-hires over 50 people of Creo

Hike Messenger is backed by investors such as Tencent Holdings and Foxconn Technology Group, among others

Messaging app Hike integrates payments, launches wallet

It will offer features such as bank-to-bank, wallet-to-wallet money transfer and mobile recharge options right from the app itself.

Messaging co Hike may beat WhatsApp in launching UPI-backed payment platform

Hike Messenger is likely to beat competitor WhatsApp to become the first messaging app in India to launch a UPI-backed payments mechanism on its app.

Snapdeal crisis: A look at SoftBank's startup empire in India

Twice in last six months, SoftBank has written off its investments in Ola and Snapdeal by USD 555 million in November 2016 and USD 475 million in Februray 2017. Collectively about a billion dollars have just vanished from SoftBank's India investments thus it has suffered a notional loss than gain in book value of these firms.

No plans to make money for next 2-3 years: Hike CEO Kavin Mittal

Hike's founder Kavin Mittal says that there is no plan to monetize the app as it has enough cash to last 36 months. In an exclusive interaction with Moneycontrol, he also countered critics who allege that despite having almost no revenues the company is now counted as a Unicorn, because of a large funding round.

Trai's recommendation on free Internet likely this week

Telecom regulator Trai is expected to release this week its recommendations on free data services in the wake of its ban on free Internet platforms like Facebook's Free Basics and Airtel Zero.

Hike Messenger begins to roll out video calling to its user base

Video calling, the beta of which was rolled out in September this year to a select set of less than a hundred thousand, will now begin to roll out to the entire userbase starting with Android users this week.

Hike raises $175 mn from Tencent, Foxconn; joins $1-bn club

Hike Messenger has raised USD 175 million in a fresh round of funding led by Tencent Holdings and Foxconn Technology Group, joining the coveted 'unicorn' club of startups with a valuation of almost USD 1.4 billion.

Hike Messenger raises $175 mn led by Tencent, Foxconn

Existing investors - Tiger Global, Bharti and Softbank Group - also participated in this round. This is the fourth venture capital round and the biggest to date for Hike, a company founded by Kavin Bharti Mittal, son of Bharti Enterprises Chairman Sunil Mittal.

Hike appoints Rajesh Rudraradhya as VP, Engineering Head

Rudraradhya will report to Founder and CEO of Hike, Kavin Bharti Mittal, son of Bharti Enterprises Chairman Sunil Mittal, and will help Hike scale its engineering team and streamlining product development.

Hike Messenger crosses 100 million users

The company acquired 30 million additional users in just three months as it crossed 70 million users in October 2015, the statement said.

No need to regulate OTT players: Kavin Mittal

The company today launched another feature for the application which allows users to share data and files without internet connectivity within a radius of 100 meters. Sharing an example, Mittal said exchanging 100 MB of data would take less than 10 seconds on Hike Direct without incurring any charges.

Finding the next big 'mobile' idea with Martin Sorrell

Forget America and think China to further the start-up revolution in India, says Martin Sorrell, CEO, WPP in an interview to CNBC-TV18‘s Shereen Bhan.

Hike launches free group calling, can connect 100 people

The calling feature, which will work over 4G and wi-fi to begin with is available on Android currently while iOS and Windows will be followed by end of the year, the company said in a statement.