Mobile messaging app Hike has today announced it has hit 20 million active users, just a few months after its February announcement it had 15M users.
Hike is growing fast, adding five million in just 3 short months is no joke even when most of them come from India where its based.
“We’ve spent a ton of time looking closely at the market,” announced the firm and added, ” what Indians need and observing how they use hike. We believe we now understand, what Indian users expect in an awesome messaging app; things no one has been able to give to them yet, and we are working towards that.”
The app also said it had launched, the ‘Hidden Mode’ to allow users to hide their private chats, such that no one even knows they’re hidden, and access them only with the right password. This was more of a Snapchat move.In April, Hike introduced bigger and better attachments so users can have the ability to send any kind of files to friends on their smartphones. The same month, Hike launched Unlimited Free SMS to help users connect with their friends via free SMS to message to even those who werent on Hike or whether they own the smartphones or not in a market where more than 80% of all mobile users don’t even have a smartphone with internet.The free SMS and the $14M round of funding from BSB is bearing fruit.Hike was founded by Kavin Bharti Mittal, son of Sunil Bharti Mittal founder-chairman of Bharti Airtel, ndthe number three telco globally. Unlike, Whatsapp and others, Hike users can chat on SMS to those that have no Hike or do not have a smartphone. Hike wants to dominate India’s 850 million mobile plus mobile subscribers.