It looks like the Indian messaging app service is eyeing a ‘Hike’ in its user base in the ever evolving digital populous of today. According to reports, Hike’s chief exec and founder Kavin Bharti Mittal has revealed that the company’s immediate focus was to increase the user numbers by adding a sizable 30 million to the already existent 70 million active users.
Apart from this, the company also plans to start earning revenues in the next 12-18 months, while also looking at increasing the present headcount of 200 employees to nearly double the number by next year.
Mittal believes that in this ever fast evolving marketplace, it becomes even more complex to build a great product that is used by 100 million people. Thus, the company is focused on providing the right product and value proposition to the users, before thinking of generating revenue on a big scale.
To achieve the target, Hike is working on a slew of products, which it believes that would be a major source of revenue in the near future. Cashing in on the ongoing festive season, Hike has tied up with around 100 brands including online marketplace giants. It has also launched a coupon service for getting discounts and benefits from partner brands.
Last year, Hike secured $65 million from Tiger Global. It plans to raise another round of funding in the next six to 12 months. Hike also recently acquired Zip Phone, and is open to more acquisitions. “We are looking to partner with people; it could be organic or inorganic. We are very open to acquire or partner with these companies. We already acquired Zip Phone, when we launched Voice with the Zip Phone technology. We are always talking to a bunch of people in the market; so there is no specific strategy over here,” Mittal noted.
