Messaging app Hike has raised $7 million in funding from Bharti SoftBank. It's not immediately clear how Hike plans to utilize the funds raised. We have contacted Hike and would update the post once we receive a response. Hike recently announced that it has crossed 5 million users since its global launch in December 2012. Hike had also informed MediaNama that 60% of its user base is from India and the rest global led by Middle East and Europe. Around 20% of its overall messaging traffic comes from its Hike2sms feature. Besides this, Hike also revamped its app adding new features such as status update with moods, circle of friends, mute notifications, among others. The revamped app with updated features is available on Apple’s iOS devices, Android and Windows Phone 8 devices. New features like Status Updates & Moods feature has not been rolled out to Hike’s Windows Phone 7 app and Symbian app. What should Hike do? The messaging app market is quite crowded and Hike competes with WhatsApp, WeChat, Viber, Kik, Line, Facebook Messenger among others. Among all, WhatsApp seems to be particularly popular in the country. WhatsApp CEO Jan Koum announced at the AllthingsD's Dive Into Mobile Conference that WhatsApp has more than 200 million monthly active users. WeChat, a rich media data messaging app by Tencent, had also crossed 300 million users globally on January 15, 2012. Whats probably driving WhatsApp in the country is its partnership with telecom operators and handset manufacturers. Recently, Nokia launched Nokia Asha 210, a single and dual-SIM handset with QWERTY keypad and a dedicated WhatsApp button. The handset comes with lifetime…
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