Steven Millward · · 1 min readIndia’s homegrown messaging app gets funding, including from maker of China’s WeChat
Hike CEO Kavin Mittal.
Hike, the Indian startup battling the might of WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, today announced US$175 million in series D funding, according to CEO Kavin Mittal talking to Bloomberg.
The messaging app’s newest funding is from China’s Tencent – maker of WeChat – and Foxconn, with previous investors Tiger Global, SoftBank, and Bharti Enterprises also contributing.
Kavin, 28, is the son of Indian billionaire Sunil Mittal, the Bharti Enterprises chairman and owner of the Bharti Airtel telco.
The sizable new investment values Hike at almost $1.4 billion, says the Delhi-based startup. That makes it a new “unicorn” – a startup valued at a billion dollars or more.
Updated a few hours after publishing: Kavin talked about the deal at a press event in Delhi this afternoon.
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Editing by Osman Husain
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