Hike, an India-based instant messaging service raised $65m yesterday in a series C round led by investment firm Tiger Global Management and featuring corporate joint venture Bharti Softbank (BSB).
BSB, a JV between Japan-based telecommunications company Softbank and India-based counterpart Bharti Group, provided $7m in series A funding for Hike in April 2013, following that up with another $14m in April this year.
Hike also revealed that its user base has skyrocketed from 20 million to 35 million in the last two months alone.
The growth is likely to have been at least partly due to the recent introduction of a measure enabling users to keep their messages hidden, an incentive for teenagers living in a still relatively conservative society. Hike estimates 80% of its users are under the age of 25.
Kavin Bharti Mittal, Hike’s founder and CEO, said: “With the new investment we’re going to double down. We now have the ammo to tackle the more audacious items on our list.
“We have a great shot at becoming the first mobile internet company for India to cross 100 million users and we’re extremely excited to have Tiger Global join us on our mission to bring India online.”