Exclusive: SoftBank-backed Hike raises funds for Web3 game

Hike, a former messaging platform and local rival to WhatsApp, has raised an undisclosed sum in a fresh funding round led by Jump Crypto, the Indian startup told Tech in Asia.

Investors including Tribe Capital and Republic Capital’s Republic Crypto also took part in the round.

Photo credit: Rush Gaming Universe

The investors will help Hike build the Rush Gaming Universe (RGU), a social gaming metaverse where players can use their skills in a play-to-earn format. Players can participate in an economy where they can generate digital assets based on the outcome of their gameplay.

While Jump Crypto will be Hike’s market maker to help the platform navigate exchanges, Republic Crypto will act as a token advisory and sale partner. Tribe Capital will also help the Indian startup build its product.

The latest investment will be used to expand RGU’s product strategy and ramp up hiring across various functions.

“While games like Axie Infinity and Gods Unchained have pioneered a couple of things, there’s still work to do in the economy,” Hike CEO Kavin Mittal told Tech in Asia. “We have to make sure we run an economy that does not have hyperinflation.”

See also: Is Axie Infinity too big to fail?

RGU will have a two-currency system, which will include a governance token and the rupee as a fiat currency. The company will also transition its fiat currency into stablecoins when India legalizes the same.

Photo credit: Rush Games Universe

Since RGU’s launch in March 2021, it has been played over 160 million times every quarter, and it sees over US$90 million in gross winnings annually across 1.8 million monthly active users. The company aims to double its monthly active users by the end of this year.