Tag Archives: indian startups

Mittal’s Hike Shuts Down After India’s Real-Money Gaming Ban; Decade-Long Journey Over

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Hike, once touted as India’s homegrown rival to WhatsApp and later a promising player in online gaming, has officially shut down after the Indian government imposed a ban on real-money gaming.

Founder and CEO Kavin Bharti Mittal confirmed the closure in a note shared on Substack, calling it “a difficult decision” made after discussions with investors and employees. “Scaling globally would require a full recap, a reset that is not the best use of capital or time,” he wrote, acknowledging that regulatory hurdles in India had curtailed the company’s ambitions.

Launched in 2016 as a messaging platform, Hike had repositioned itself in 2021 as a gaming venture with its platform Rush. Featuring 14 mobile titles, Rush integrated Web3 elements such as play-to-earn mechanics and digital asset ownership. The app grew rapidly, boasting more than 10 million users, $500 million in gross revenue, and nearly $480 million in annual winnings distributed to players.

Ban on Online Gaming

Despite the traction, India’s blanket ban on real-money gaming effectively shut off Hike’s largest market. Mittal noted that while the company’s U.S. operations launched nine months ago were “showing strong growth,” the inability to build scale at home made global expansion unviable.

At its peak, Hike employed about 100 people across India, the U.S., Dubai, and Singapore, organized into what Mittal described as lean, high-performance “SWAT teams.” The venture had backing from some of the world’s biggest investors, including SoftBank, Tencent, Tiger Global, Bharti, Foxconn, Jump Crypto, Tribe Capital, Republic, and Polygon. Individual investors such as Rajeev Misra, Elad Gil, and Zynga founder Mark Pincus had also placed bets on the company.

The shutdown brings an abrupt end to a startup that once symbolized India’s ambition to build global internet platforms, from social messaging to Web3 gaming. Moreover, the abrupt closure of Hike underscores a hard truth for India’s digital economy ahead such as scale, innovation, and marquee investors are no match for abrupt regulatory interventions. Kavin Bharti Mittal’s decision to shut down the once-celebrated startup reveals how vulnerable even well-backed ventures remain in sectors that lack policy clarity.

Platform Rush Experiment

Hike’s trajectory reflects both promise and pitfalls. From its early days as a homegrown rival to WhatsApp, the company successfully reinvented itself by riding India’s booming mobile gaming wave. Its platform, Rush, was no small experiment: it blended traditional casual games with Web3 features, drew over 10 million users, and claimed $500 million in gross revenues. Few Indian consumer internet firms outside e-commerce had achieved such traction in a short span. Yet, one regulatory stroke effectively erased its biggest market.

Above all, the challenge lies in the timing. Mittal argued that while Hike’s U.S. operations were beginning to show growth, building a truly global platform required strong domestic roots. India was intended to provide that base. Instead, the blanket ban on real-money gaming turned a growth story into a cautionary tale. This regulatory unpredictability does not just deter entrepreneurs, it shakes investor confidence in India’s broader digital ecosystem.

The investor roster behind Hike, SoftBank, Tencent, Tiger Global, Polygon, and others, signals that global capital is eager to back Indian startups. But sudden rule changes, without phased implementation or alternative frameworks, risk driving talent and capital abroad. The shutdown also raises questions about India’s ability to nurture world-class consumer internet products, even as the government pushes for “Digital India” and startup-led growth.

Concerns of Addiction Leads to Shutdowns

At the same time, the government cannot remain mute to concerns of addiction over inevitable financial risk without stifling gaming sector. innovation. In fact, the ban on real-money gaming in India has triggered a wave of shutdowns and exits across the country’s once-thriving gaming startup ecosystem. Hike, the messaging-app-turned-gaming company, was the first high-profile casualty, but several others have quickly followed.

Dream Sports, parent of fantasy sports giant Dream11, has begun winding down its real-money gaming divisions. The company has suspended its “cash contests” on platforms like Dream Picks and Dream Play, assuring users that deposits and winnings remain safe.

Mobile Premier League (MPL), another major player in India’s online gaming sector, also suspended deposits and halted its real-money operations. The company has reportedly laid off nearly 60% of its India workforce, underscoring the severity of the regulatory shock.

PokerBaazi, operated by Moonshine (a Nazara Technologies subsidiary), has also ceased offering real-money poker games. While Nazara continues to evaluate the regulatory environment, its gaming subsidiary has been forced to hit pause on its most lucrative business line.

Other firms, including Zupee, Probo, Gameskraft, and WinZO, have likewise suspended or shut down their real-money offerings. Zupee has retained its free-to-play titles, while Gameskraft’s rummy platforms have disabled all “add cash” features. Probo too has discontinued real-money segments to comply with the new rules.

RummyCulture, one of India’s largest online rummy brands, has also closed its cash-game services, further shrinking the space for real-money card-based gaming.

Together, these shutdowns highlight the scale of disruption caused by the new legislation. Startups that collectively served tens of millions of users and attracted billions of dollars in global investment have been forced to exit their primary business overnight.

Team Indus gears up for second chance at Lunar XPRIZE

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India’s first private sector space agency Team Indus is gearing up for the XPRIZE lunar launch giving final touches to its stalled latest mini rover meant for lunar landing.

Since Team Indus failed to raise funds for ISRO-backed PSLV launch, it could not meet the deadline set by Google as of March 31, 2018. Eventually, Google withdrew the prize money of $30 million and called it off.

Now that XPRIZE, which had successfully launched similar scientific missions in the past has renewed its mission to undertake the Lunar XPRIZE and Bangalore-based Team Indus emerges with renewed vigour.

Team Indus founder and CEO Rahul Narayan was upbeat. “The Google Lunar XPRIZE served as an excellent early catalyst to get new people, partners and money involved. With the renewed interest in beyond Earth-orbit exploration by multiple large government space agencies, a new Lunar XPRIZE will be a perfectly timed platform with the chances of multiple successful launches being much higher than before,” he said.

Under the terms of Google XPRIZE competition, the space company or its competitors have to make a soft-landing of their lunar rover, which should traverse at least 500 metres and send high-quality images back to the ground control on the earth. However, the new parameters will be re-defined now, said XPRIZE in a statement.

While Team Indus was seen as a sure-shot winner with its progress in designing the lunar rover and displaying it at several space events in India and abroad, the company failed to raise the required funds to pay for ISRO’s PSLV launcher.

Since 2007, Google Lunar XPRIZE teams have raised over $300 million through corporate sponsorships, government contracts and venture capital. As of 2017 January, Team Indus from India, Japan’s HAKUTO, Israel-based SpaceIL, American firms Moon Express and Synergy Moon were selected out of the 33 teams from 17 countries for the $1 million initial prize. However, the failure of any of them to raise next round of funds forced Google to withdraw the $30 million grand prize.

Chanda Gonzales-Mowrer, Senior Director of XPRIZE, said: “These space entrepreneurs are developing long-term business models around lunar transportation and we cannot give up on them now.”

All the Lunar XPRIZE startups are equally enthusiastic to participate in the Lunar XPRIZE competition without a monetary prize but the organisers are hopeful to find a new sponsor to replace elusive Google. Peter H. Diamandis, XPRIZE founder and executive chairman said, “XPRIZE is now looking for our next visionary Title Sponsor who wants to put their logo on these teams and on the lunar surface.”

Bob Richards, founder & CEO of Moon Express welcomed XPRIZE decision to renew the competition. “While we plan to win this Moon race and are committed to carrying the Lunar XPRIZE logo, the real opportunity is in opening the lunar frontier and the multibillion dollar industry that follows.”

Takeshi Hakamada, founder and CEO of Japan’s space firm iSpace, which has designed HAKUTO, echoed similar views when he said, “We believe a new competition would again elevate our industry to an even higher level, so we eagerly welcome a new Lunar XPRIZE.”

While all eyes are on a new Title Sponsor, whoever pitches in would have the benefit of having their name and branding incorporated into the competition, and in success, on the surface of the Moon, said XPRIZE.

XPRIZE had conducted the $20M NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE, the $15M Global Learning XPRIZE, the $10M ANA Avatar XPRIZE, the $7M Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE, the $7M Barbara Bush Foundation Adult Literacy XPRIZE, the $5M IBM Watson AI XPRIZE, the $1.75M Water Abundance XPRIZE and the $1M Anu and Naveen Jain Women’s Safety XPRIZE in the past.