Hike Messenger, an Indian rival to Facebook’s WhatsApp, has achieved “unicorn” status after Tencent and Foxconn joined a fresh funding round that valued the business at $1.4bn.
The $175m in financing has made the company one of India’s most valuable technology start-ups just three years after launch. International investors have backed the business to follow in the footsteps of WeChat in China and Line in Japan in building viable messaging businesses in a large local market.
India’s start-up scene has attracted international investors such as SoftBank, the Japanese technology group, and Tiger Global, the New York-based fund manager, both of which backed Hike Messenger in previous funding rounds and participated in the latest financing.