Hike, once one of India’s most celebrated startups, has officially shut down. The company, led by Kavin Bharti Mittal, had reached unicorn status in 2016 but could not survive India’s new ban on real-money gaming.
Hike started its journey in 2012 as a messaging app that aimed to take on WhatsApp. It was backed by notable investors like SoftBank, Tiger Global, and Tencent. The app became popular among young users and once had over 40 million monthly active users. However, it failed to compete with WhatsApp and shut down its messenger in 2021.
After that, the company pivoted to gaming with its platform Rush, offering real-money casual games like ludo and carrom. Rush grew quickly and attracted more than 10 million users. It also generated over $500 million in revenue in four years. But the recent Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, brought a complete ban on real-money gaming in India.
In an email to investors, Mittal admitted that the company had around $4 million left, which will now go towards vendor payments, employee severance, and returning any balance to investors. He said the ban cut Hike’s timeline from seven months to just four, making continuation impossible.
“This is both a disappointment and a hard outcome. But I choose to look on the bright side: the learnings are invaluable, and my conviction for what’s next is even stronger,” Mittal wrote. He also said that RMG was never the final vision, but a step to prove unit economics while working towards building a gaming nation.
The sudden shutdown comes as India’s $23-billion gaming industry faces its toughest moment. Big players like Dream Sports, MPL, and Zupee have already cut operations, with thousands of layoffs across the sector. Many firms are now exploring overseas markets or shifting to new business models to survive.
For Hike, however, this is the end of a 13-year-long journey. Mittal said the company may have been too early for its vision and hinted that his next focus could be on AI, energy, and other frontier technologies.
