SoftBank-backed WhatsApp rival Hike goes off the air in India


A girl and a woman check a mobile phone in front of a mural representing frontline warriors of the Covid-19 coronavirus, painted on a wall along the roadside in New Delhi on December 19, 2020, as India surged past 10 million coronavirus cases. (Photo by Sajjad HUSSAIN / AFP)

Hike, the messaging app backed by SoftBank Group Corp that aimed to compete against WhatsApp in the world’s second-most populous country, shut down and vanished from app stores on Jan 18.

The startup valued at US$1.4bil (RM5.67bil) in a 2016 funding round announced its app was going off the air earlier this month without explanation. The app started by billionaire-family scion Kavin Bharti Mittal has failed over several years to displace Facebook Inc’s rival app as India’s go-to venue for social media and mobile communications. The country remains WhatsApp’s largest market globally.

Subscribe or renew your subscriptions to win prizes worth up to RM68,000!

Monthly Plan

RM13.90/month

Annual Plan

RM12.33/month

Billed as RM148.00/year

1 month

Free Trial

For new subscribers only


Cancel anytime. No ads. Auto-renewal. Unlimited access to the web and app. Personalised features. Members rewards.
Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel for breaking news alerts and key updates!
   

Next In Tech News

Exclusive-Amazon likely to face investigation under EU tech rules next year, sources say
US natgas producers chase AI-driven surge in power demand to weather low prices
Snowflake shares surge on rosy forecast, AI deal with Anthropic
Digital banks lead profitability gains among Brazilian lenders, says central bank
PayPal fixes outage that affected thousands worldwide
X's former top policy chief takes job with Elon Musk rival, Sam Altman
Alibaba integrates e-commerce platforms into a single business unit
US watchdog issues final rule to supervise Big Tech payments, digital wallets
Nvidia to build AI school in Indonesia, VP says
A Google PC running Android could be in the works

Others Also Read