Hike, as soon as one in every of India’s most respected startups with unicorn standing, has grow to be the newest casualty of New Delhi’s current real-money gaming ban, with the corporate — led by Kavin Bharti Mittal, son of Airtel founder Sunil Bharti Mittal — now shutting down.
On Saturday, Hike founder Mittal (pictured above) mentioned that the startup’s U.S. enterprise, which launched 9 months in the past, was “off to a robust begin.” However he mentioned scaling it globally would require “a full recap, a reset that’s not the perfect use of capital or time.”
Initially launched as an on the spot messaging app rivaling WhatsApp in 2012, Hike pivoted to real-money gaming in recent times, with its main platform, Rush, providing informal video games like carrom and ludo for money prizes, following the shutdown of Hike Messenger in 2021. Rush attracted over 10 million customers and generated greater than $500 million in gross income over its four-year run, Mittal mentioned.
Storied traders together with Tiger International, SoftBank, and Tencent backed Hike’s early ambition to tackle WhatsApp with a youth-focused messaging app. The startup was valued at $1.4 billion in 2016.
“We might elevate the capital, however the true query is: is it price it? Is that this a climb price pivoting for?” Mittal wrote in a Substack submit. “For the primary time in 13 years, my reply is not any. Not for me, not for my crew, and never for our traders.”
Final month, the Indian authorities shocked the $23-billion real-money gaming trade by introducing the Promotion and Regulation of On-line Gaming Act, 2025, which imposed a blanket ban on such platforms. The federal authorities mentioned the choice was geared toward addressing incidents of hurt, together with instances the place people reportedly died by suicide after shedding cash in these video games.
In response, high trade gamers together with Dream Sports activities and Cellular Premier League (MPL) started shutting down their real-money gaming operations in India. Whereas some began pivoting to new ventures like micro-dramas and financial services, others started exploring worldwide markets to maintain elements of their gaming companies alive.
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The crackdown has additionally triggered a wave of layoffs, with round 2,000 job losses reported throughout firms like Games24x7, Head Digital Works, MPL, and Zupee. A few of them are planning to chop as much as 90% of their workforce as they try and adapt or exit the area, sources informed TechCrunch.
Some VC companies backing these startups have additionally questioned their founders on whether or not there had been any early indicators of regulatory motion — and if that’s the case, why no steps have been taken to mitigate the impression, sources acquainted with the conversations informed TechCrunch.
Earlier this week, the Indian Supreme Court docket transferred all petitions challenging the brand new regulation — the foundations of that are but to be notified — from a number of state courts throughout the nation. Nonetheless, the highest court docket has but to start listening to the matter.
“That is each a disappointment and a tough final result. However I select to look on the intense facet: the learnings are invaluable, and my conviction for what’s subsequent is even stronger,” Mittal wrote.
