Hike backed by SoftBank Group Corp. that aimed to compete against WhatsApp in India, shut down and vanished from app stores Monday.
This startup worth at $1.4 billion in 2016, announced its app was going off, from the air earlier this month without any clarification. Kavin Bharti Mittal started this app in 2012, has failed over several years to replace Facebook Inc.’s rival app as India’s go-to venue for social media and mobile communications. India remains WhatsApp’s largest market around the globe.
“India won’t have its own messenger, unless Govt. bans Western companies. Global network effects are too strong” said Mittal.
