Hike, under the developers at Hike Private Limited, is an AI-controlled, cross-platform messaging and file sharing application, aimed at reducing people’s dependency on the keyboard to connect people back together. As a social media platform, the application allows users to share voice and text messages in real-time through the internet, focusing its shift on people rather than technology.

Founded by Kavin Bharti Mittal, Hike provides free voice calling across 2G, 3G, 4G, and wi-fi in over 200 countries to form new communities centralized around people’s passions.

At its initial startup in 2012, the application acquired over five million users and reached seventy million in 2015. On average, users spend over 120 minutes per week on the application, making it a top tier competitor against companies such as Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited. Moving from single-platform to a multi-platform, Hike developed two new applications to cater to its consumers, Hike Sticker Chat & WinZO.

Hike Sticker Chat allows users to use stickers as a form of expression, and WinZO is India’s online arcade platform for games. In 2016, the company earned over $260 million in capital from investors such as Tiger Global, Tencent, and Softbank, turning the company into the 10th company to be valued at over $1 billion in India.