Kavin Bharti Mittal, the 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 follows India’s blanket ban on real-money gaming (RMG), a category Hike had pivoted into in recent years. Mittal confirmed the closure in a Substack post, saying, “After regrouping with our investors and the team, I’ve made the difficult decision to wind down Hike completely.”
From Messaging to Gaming
Hike began in 2012 as a messaging app meant to rival WhatsApp. At its peak, it had over 40 million monthly users. However, the app was shut down in 2021 as user preferences shifted.
The company then transitioned into real-money gaming with a new platform called Rush, offering 14 mobile games where players could win cash prizes. The platform also incorporated Web3 technologies such as digital ownership and play-to-earn mechanics. But in 2023, India introduced strict laws banning online games involving real-money deposits. These rules made Hike’s business model in India unviable.
India’s Regulations Force a Global Exit
Mittal explained that the startup had intended to test and refine its gaming platform in India before expanding globally. “RMG was never the destination,” he wrote. “It was a way to test the model before building something bigger.”
However, the regulatory crackdown in India disrupted those plans. “Starting in India locked us into the model and regulatory headwinds,” he said, adding that scaling globally now would require a full reset—something not worth the time or money.
Although Hike recently launched operations in the US and was seeing early success, Mittal said the team decided it was better to shut down than continue under uncertain conditions.
What Was Hike’s Reach?
Hike operated with around 100 employees spread across global locations, including India, the US, Dubai, and Singapore. Mittal described the company’s structure as made up of “SWAT teams”—small, agile units built to tackle complex problems quickly.
Rush, Hike’s gaming platform, reportedly generated over $500 million in gross revenue during its four-year run in India. It had over 10 million users, and paid out roughly $480 million in winnings annually. Despite this scale, regulatory unpredictability in India ultimately became too large a hurdle.
Investors and Industry Fallout
Hike had high-profile investors, including SoftBank, Tencent, Tiger Global, Foxconn, Polygon, and Tribe Capital. Individual backers included venture capital veterans like Elad Gil and Zynga founder Mark Pincus. The shutdown comes at a time when several Indian gaming companies are laying off staff due to the ban. Companies like MPL, Games24x7, Zupee, and Baazi Games have all been affected.
What’s Next for Kavin Mittal?
Mittal isn’t stepping away from tech. He now plans to focus on future-forward fields like artificial intelligence, clean energy, and human potential. “For the first time, technology has both intelligence and memory,” he wrote. “Imagine systems that adapt and grow with us—this is the most exciting time to be building software.”
While Hike may be closing its doors, Mittal remains optimistic. “This is both a disappointment and a hard outcome. But the learnings are invaluable, and my conviction for what’s next is even stronger.”
