Kavin Bharti Mittal Shuts Down Hike After 13 Years
The shutdown follows India’s blanket ban on real-money gaming, the sector Hike had pivoted into
Kavin Bharti Mittal, founder of tech startup Hike and son of Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal, has announced the complete shutdown of his company after 13 years.
The decision comes in the wake of India’s nationwide ban on real-money gaming (RMG), a sector Hike had pivoted into in recent years after moving away from its original messaging platform.
Confirming the closure in a Substack post, Mittal wrote, “After regrouping with our investors and the team, I’ve made the difficult decision to wind down Hike completely.”
Once positioned as India’s answer to WhatsApp, Hike Messenger struggled to retain users amid stiff competition. In 2021, it pivoted toward online gaming with its RMG platform, seeking to capture India’s fast-growing digital entertainment market.
However, the government’s blanket ban on RMG earlier this year dealt a final blow to the company’s prospects. Mittal described the move to shut down operations as a “tough but inevitable call.” At its peak, Hike was valued at over $1 billion and counted global investors such as Tencent and SoftBank.
