Hike messenger, free messaging app courtesy; BSB, has today spanned the 20 million users landmark.

The app’s user base has ascended to 20 Million in just 1.5 years following its launch; thus making hike one of the fastest growing mobile applications from India. Propelled into action globally in December 2012, that is, the company went from 5 to 15M users in 9 months and then added to its base, the next 5M in three months.

Close to 90% of the app’s users hail from India and in excess of 80% of its accounted users are under the age group of 25 years.

Stating on the feat being accomplished, Kavin Bharti Mittal, Head, Product and Strategy, Hike messenger, held that, “India has almost a 100M active mobile internet users in the country and that number is growing rapidly every year. That’s the market, which we’re building for. The rate at which hike messenger has grown in the last 18 months is phenomenal and is a strong testament of the right direction in which the product is steering. We will continue to focus heavily on introducing new and innovative features to bridge the existing gaps in the IM market in India.”

A momentous addition to hike’s exclusive features bouquet stands as what is dubbed thus ‘Big File Transfer’ – equipping users to share all file formats, ranging from Docs, followed by PPTs, PDFs to MP3s, of up to a 100MB each, bettering the attachment limit of all IM apps and even email clients. Worth noting is the aspect that, Hike users no longer ought to to share files via emails or for that matter, transfer over SD Cards.

The company also declared the availability of an industry first; and new feature – ‘Hidden Mode’ – that helps users in keeping their private chats hidden from others.

“Today, we’re also excited to announce ‘Hidden Mode’ in hike. You can now hide your private chats, such that no one even knows they’re hidden, and access them only with the right password. In a country like India, where teenagers stay with their parents and families; where their need for privacy is constantly challenged; we believe this feature could be a boon for all our users. We’re building all these new features basis the feedback of our beta-users called the hike ninjas. This approach is working really well for us and going forward we expect it to help us grow even faster.” Supplements Kavin Mittal.

Hike is available worldwide on iOS, Android, Blackberry, BB10, WP, S40, S60 and Noxia X.

Snippets entailing Hike’s growth odyssey:

• Dec, 2012: Global launch of the Free Messaging App.
• Feb 2013: Messaging traffic on the rise 10X week on week.
• April 2013: Sledgehammers the first 5M user landmark in just 4 months of its introduction; Raised $7M from BSB.
• June 2013: Availability of Stickers and more launches involving Hike.
• Aug 2013: Digital advertising campaign entailing Hike goes live
• Nov 2013: Co-creation exercise with users – together with real-time feedback from the users en route for product development
• Dec 2013: Hike turns 1 year old; Unveils two-way Chat Themes
• Feb 2014: Hits the 15M user spot
• April 2014: Receives $14M fresh funding courtesy; BSB
• June 2014: Spanned 20M user mark