Consumer Ecosystems

Hike founder fires parting shot at Facebook before app shutters

Hike founder fires parting shot at Facebook before app shutters

The founder of Indian messaging app Hike has called on users to shun services from Facebook and opt instead for privacy-focused apps such as Telegram and Signal as his company exits the messaging market.

Kavin Bharti Mittal, son of Bharti Enterprises chair Sunil Bharti Mittal, founded Hike Messenger in 2012. The app accrued over 100 million users within three years, competing against the likes of WhatsApp, and was recently valued at over $1.4 billion.

However, the messaging service will shutter later this month, with Mittal the younger tweeting that “global network effects” meant that a dedicated Indian messenger could not compete effectively unless the country banned Western competitors.

Singling out Facebook for focusing on data harvesting rather than customer interest, Mittal described Telegram and Signal has having “the right incentives (more aligned with consumers) unlike Facebook products.”



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