MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian mobile messaging service provider Hike said it raised $65 million in fresh funding, led by New York-based investment firm Tiger Global, to spend on its product and expand its team.
Hike said its parent Bharti SoftBank, a joint venture between India's Bharti Enterprises and Japan's SoftBank Corp <9984.T>, was the other investor in the new round of funding. It did not say specify Tiger Global and Bharti SoftBank's individual investments.
Bharti Enterprises is the parent of top Indian mobile phone carrier Bharti Airtel Ltd
Hike, which competes with messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Line, said it has more than 35 million users with more than 90 percent from India.
India is the world's second-biggest mobile phone market after China by number of users. Smartphone sales have surged in the past two years after the launch of high-speed networks, making the country the world's third-biggest smartphone market.
(Reporting by Devidutta Tripathy; Editing by Prateek Chatterjee)
