As the world is getting more and more connected via the internet, new means of connecting with people are cropping up. One such application is Hike. Hike is an Indian messaging app which is similar to Whatsapp. Apart from text messages Hike also allows a user to send each other stickers, images, emoticons, videos, contacts, and user location. Hike was founded by Kavin Bharti Mittal in 2012. Since its launch, Hike has seen exponential growth and became the youngest startup to achieve the unicorn status.This was just after 3.5 years of its inception.
Just after 2 years of its launch, Hike had gained over 15 million users. In the coming months, free messaging across India, hidden chats, stickers were introduced by Hike complete with a new interface. This helped in boosting the popularity of the app. By August 2014, Hike had over 35 million users. The USP of Hike is the free stickers it provides. According to company sources over 30% of the traffic on hike comes from stickers. By January 2016, Hike had touched the milestone of over 100 million users, which far exceeded the expectations of its founder. Apart from the basic free messaging, hike also allows users to send messages from hike to non-hike users.
They have an extensive variety of emoticons, some of which aren’t available in other messaging applications like WhatsApp. One can also create a group in which over 1000 members can be added. Another useful feature of hike is that a person can make a group call which can include over 100 people at once. In 2016, hike also introduced the stories function in which one can upload and view stories up to 24 hrs. Hike also provides free video and audio calling across India. Hike also became the first Indian messaging app to launch payments after introducing hike wallet.
Apart from this, hike contains multiple features like themes, magic selfie and night mode. It also contains content like hike news, hike cricket, jokes, Hike ID, timeline and stories and many more. Hike also makes an attempt to connect with its users personally by sending them daily quotes and facts. In January 2018, hike also launched another feature called “total build by hike” which allowed the users to access hike services on their mobile phones in offline mode or without internet. These features have helped Hike gain the immense popularity it enjoys today.
