Foxconn, Tencent invest $175 mn in Hike Messenger

In one of the biggest fund raisings in the Indian internet segment, homegrown messaging platform Hike Messenger has raised more than $175 million in a new funding round led by Foxconn Technology Group and Tencent Holdings Limited. The funding values the company close to $1.4 billion.

Hike Messenger founder and CEO Kavin Bharti Mittal said, "The new fund raise is going to allow us to push Hike to greater heights and invest in areas that will be key to our long term vision and success''.

Existing investors Tiger, Bharti and the SoftBank Group also participated in this round, which is Series D financing for the company.

This is the fourth venture capital round and the biggest to date for Hike, taking the total investment to over $250 million so far.

''Hike deeply understands India; a highly diverse market with many nuances. It is on a mission synergistic to ours, which is to enhance the quality of human life through internet services. With our investment, Hike will be able to leverage our deep domain expertise in the messaging platform space to provide more value to its users in India,'' Tencent President Martin Lau said.

As of January 2016, Hike had a user base of 100 million users of which 95 per cent were based in India of whom 90 per cent are young and below the age of 30. Hike users, on an average, exchange 40 billion messages per month and spend 120 minutes per user per week on the platform.

''Messaging platforms are where consumers and their social networks reside and represent significant investment potential, particularly in a market like India, where most people will access the internet for the first time on their mobile phones. As a leading provider of mobiles technology and Internet of Things solutions, FIH Mobile understands the value that mobile platforms, such as Hike Messenger, bring to our business portfolio and our strategy for delivering cutting-edge products and solutions that meet the needs of our customers and consumers, enabling us to achieve sustainable business growth. Hike with its hyperlocal strategy is clearly the company of choice for us to co-invest with our partners, SoftBank and Tencent,'' Foxconn's FIH Mobile CEO  Calvin Chih said.