Is Tencent’s blessing going to give India a worthy WhatsApp competitor?

India is the world’s second biggest market for chat apps. Photo credit: Swaminathan.

In India, WhatsApp rules supreme with more than 100 million active users. And it’s not just teenagers chatting to discuss the next hangout. Indians use WhatsApp for everything from making business appointments to tracking their kids’ progress to keeping in touch with aging parents. And they even help each other with school assignments on it.

Despite a bunch of other options, both international and local, nothing has really stuck on in India as much as Facebook’s chat coup from 2014.

Could that change with Hike?

The startup today said it raised US$175 million from investors, including Chinese internet giant Tencent and Taiwan’s Foxconn at a valuation of US$1.4 billion. That also makes it the newest entrant to the Indian unicorn club at a time when big ticket fundings are becoming a rarity.

But more importantly, it brings on board a clutch of experienced investors, including WeChat developer Tencent into the mix.

Hike is already planning its next moves.

See: Tencent, Foxconn bet $175m on Hike messenger

“Tencent and Foxconn both have pedigrees that speak for themselves. Their investment also means that their expertise will come on board,” Kavin told Tech in Asia earlier today.

The fresh round of funding will be used to invest in artificial intelligence, machine learning, augmented reality, and virtual reality.

WeChat’s popular mobile wallet feature, where friends can send cash to each other digitally, may also find its way into Hike – an example of technical knowhow sharing, he said.

“With our investment, Hike will be able to leverage our deep domain expertise in the messaging platform space to provide more value to its users in India,” Tencent president Martin Lau said.

Facebook troubles

Photo credit: Wikimedia.

Just “fun” may not be enough