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<ul><li><keyword id="19970536" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="BSNL" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="BSNL" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="BSNL">BSNL</keyword> recorded a huge increase in its <keyword id="20376437" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="subscriber-base" source="keywords">subscriber base</keyword> in July 2024.</li><li><keyword id="19896911" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Reliance-Jio" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Reliance Jio" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Reliance Jio">Reliance Jio</keyword>, <keyword id="19896909" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Airtel" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Airtel" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Airtel">Airtel</keyword> and <keyword id="20116054" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vi" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Vi" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Vi">Vi</keyword> have all reported a significant decline in their subscriber base.</li><li>This comes after the <keyword id="20382313" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="tariff-hike" source="keywords">tariff hike</keyword> in July 2024, which increased tariffs by up to 25%.</li></ul> In a big boost to state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), the telco has reported a huge 2.93 million increase in subscribers in July 2024, while other telecom operators such as Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vi reported a substantial decline in their subscriber base. After a long time, the month of July recorded a net decline in the Indian telecom user base. In July, there was a decline of 0.92 million users, down from an increase of 1.57 million users in June 2024. This takes the total subscriber base from 1.171 billion in June 2024 to 1.169 billion in July 2024. As we<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/reliance-jio-and-airtel-gained-over-3-million-subscribers-in-june-vi-lost-nearly-a-million/articleshow/112670406.cms"> mentioned earlier</a>, the effect of the price hike announced by the private telcos was visible in July, with all three telcos losing subscribers in huge numbers, while BSNL benefitted. We expect there to be a second wave of decline for these telcos in August as well. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="111331794" title="Reliance Jio and Airtel price hike – new plans and how you can save money" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio had announced a tariff hike, which was followed by Airtel and Vi. The telcos had announced a tariff hike of up to 25%, which came into effect from July. <h2>BSNL records a huge increase</h2>For the first time, BSNL has recorded a huge increase in subscribers while the private players have reported a decline. BSNL recorded an increase of 2.93 million subscribers in July 2024, taking its total subscriber base from 85.58 million users in June 2024 to 88.51 million in July 2024. <h2>Airtel records the highest decline</h2>Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Airtel has recorded the biggest decline in its subscriber base in July at 1.69 million users. The telco’s subscriber base declined from 389.02 million in June 2024 to 387.33 million in July 2024. Despite this, the telco continues to enjoy a high active subscriber base. The company's active subscribers stand at 383.66 million users out of its 387.33 million users, which is 99.05% of its total user base. <h2>Vi continues to bleed subscribers</h2>Vi, which is yet to launch 5G services in the country has once again reported a huge decline in subscribers. The company lost nearly 1.41 million users in July 2024. The company’s subscriber base decreased from 217.30 million in June 2024 to 215.88 million users in July 2024. Out of the 215.88 million users, the company’s active user base stands at 185.23 million users, which is 85.80%. <h2>Reliance Jio also records a decline in users</h2>Reliance Jio, which has been continuously increasing its subscriber base lost 7,58,463 subscribers in July 2024. With this, Jio's subscriber base has decreased from 476.53 million in June 2024 to 475.77 million in July 2024. Out of the 475.77 million subscribers, the company’s active subscriber base stood at 440.73 million, which is 92.64%. <h2>MNP requests continue to grow</h2>Mobile number portability (MNP), which allows users to shift from one telecom operator to another, recorded 13.68 million requests during July 2024. With this, the total number of MNP requests received since the introduction of this in November 2010 has reached 1.01 billion. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/gadgets/news/samsung-galaxy-watch-ultra-review/articleshow/113520294.cms">Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra review – premium watch with a rugged design</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/arkade-developers-ipo-allotment-how-to-check-allotment-ipo-gmp-listing-date-and-more/articleshow/113493854.cms">Arkade Developers IPO allotment – Check allotment status, GMP, listing date and more</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/xiaomi-emerges-as-the-worlds-second-biggest-smartphone-brand-in-august/articleshow/113478178.cms">Xiaomi emerges as the world’s second-biggest smartphone brand in August</a>

Jio and Airtel lost subscribers in July after tariff hike, BSNL records growth

Reliance Jio and Airtel price hike – new plans and how you can save money

<ul><li>Telecom operators are expected to announce a major <keyword id="20382313" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="tariff-hike" source="keywords">tariff hike</keyword> after the general elections.</li><li><keyword id="19951944" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bharti-Airtel" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Bharti Airtel" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Bharti Airtel">Bharti Airtel</keyword> will reportedly lead the tariff hike which will increase the prices by up to 17%.</li><li>The last major tariff hike in the telecom industry increased the prices by around 20% in December 2021.</li></ul> Indian <keyword id="20243474" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="telecom-companies" source="keywords">telecom companies</keyword> may hike the tariff by 15 to 17% after the 2024 general elections. The tariff hike is expected to take place around July-October. A <a href="https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/airtel-to-lead-telecom-tariff-hike-of-15-17-post-lok-sabha-elections-analysts-12613121.html" data-type="tilCustomLink">report</a> by Moneycontrol, citing analysts, has said that Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Airtel will lead the upcoming round of tariff hike. The last major tariff hike was announced in December 2021 and Airtel had increased the prices by around 20% back then. The general elections are scheduled to commence on April 19 and the last phase will end on June 1. The result of the election will be declared on June 4. According to analysts at Antique Stock Broking, Airtel will emerge as the biggest beneficiary of the tariff hike as it will be able to increase its average revenue per user (<keyword id="20233536" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ARPU" source="keywords">ARPU</keyword>) from the existing ₹208 to ₹286 by the end of FY27. Additionally, the telco’s subscriber base is expected to grow at 2% per annum, higher than the industry’s growth of 1%. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Prices in India are among the cheapest in the world" comment="subhead" text="Prices in India are among the cheapest in the world">Prices in India are among the cheapest in the world</cmsannotation> As per analysts, the prices of telecom services are among the cheapest in the world and need revision to stabilise revenues. The ARPU may need to be increased from around ₹200 to ₹300 to ensure profitability for large telecom players like Bharti Airtel. The company’s plan to increase its ARPU to ₹286 includes the tariff hike contributing around ₹55, customers moving from 2G to 4G contributing ₹10 and customers opting for costlier 4G and 5G plans contributing ₹14. This also hints towards the company introducing new 5G plans. At present, there are no separate 5G plans and 4G users are being offered complimentary 5G services by both Reliance Jio and Airtel. While challenges do exist as Bharti has chosen a different 5G rollout path versus key competitors, we believe it is unlikely to dent Bharti's subscriber base or growth significantly. We also believe valuations do not reflect the emerging highly positive macro telecom sector environment, opines the analysts. Airtel and Jio have been gaining subscribers over the past few years at the cost of cash-strapped Vi and state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). The two telcos, who are yet to launch 5G services in the country, are expected to continue losing subscribers over the current financial year as well. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/reliance-jio-and-airtel-add-nearly-5-million-subscribers-in-january-2024/articleshow/109040220.cms">Reliance Jio and Airtel add nearly 5 million subscribers in January 2024</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/ussd-based-call-forwarding-to-be-suspended-soon-to-curb-fraud/articleshow/108933705.cms">USSD-based call forwarding to be suspended soon to curb fraud</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/mobile-number-portability-revamped-to-reduce-sim-swap-frauds-here-are-the-new-rules/articleshow/108613683.cms">Mobile Number Portability revamped to reduce SIM swap frauds – Here are the new rules</a>

Telecom companies may hike tariffs by up to 17% after the general elections, predict analysts

<ul><li><keyword id="15491" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="airtel" source="Orion">Airtel</keyword> currently has the best ARPU in the Indian telecom sector at ₹193, but it is still significantly lower than the ₹300 the company<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/bharti-airtels-ceo-wants-vodafone-idea-to-survive-and-stay-on/articleshow/73973990.cms"> has said is the minimum ARPU necessary to ensure reasonable return on capital.</a> </li><li>Airtel chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said he hopes for a tariff hike by mid-2023. </li><li>Airtel is betting on multiple factors to drive ARPU growth – raising base tariffs in select circles, focussing on increasing postpaid coverage in its top towns, and rising usage of 5G-capable smartphones. </li></ul>A ramp up in postpaid subscribers and 5G-powered premiumisation are expected to drive growth for India’s No. 2 telecom company Bharti Airtel, especially at a time when tariff hikes have not rolled in as expected. Airtel’s continued expansion of 5G services across the country is expected to drive up data usage, leading to premiumisation. While Airtel started tentatively experimenting by hiking tariffs of its base ₹99 plan offering in select circles in November last year, it has still not increased prices across the board. This has resulted in muted growth in Airtel’s average revenue per user (ARPU), a key metric to understand a telecom company’s performance. In the December quarter, Airtel’s ARPU grew by a meagre 1.6% sequentially. However, now that 5G is here and Airtel has rolled it out in 108 cities across the country with a target of covering all major cities by the end of this year, analysts expect it to result in a much-needed ARPU boost as data consumption is higher on 5G than 4G. “We expect robust mobile revenue growth, and ARPU to rise, driven by subscriber migration from 2G to 4G, subscriber migration to higher bucket data plans due to a surge in data usage, gains in high-value postpaid subscribers, and segmented tariff hikes,” said a report by HSBC. For context, Airtel’s postpaid subscriber base increased to 19 million in Q3 FY23, from 17.6 million in the same period last year. It also added more postpaid subscribers in the December quarter (at 6.53 lakh) than in the previous two quarters combined (at 5.32 lakh). <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Here’s what will drive ARPU growth going forward" comment="subhead" text="Here’s what will drive ARPU growth going forward">Here’s what will drive ARPU growth going forward</cmsannotation> In an analyst call, Airtel underlined multiple factors that will drive its ARPU growth going forward, including – raising base tariffs in select circles, focussing on increasing postpaid coverage in its top towns, and a fifth of its total subscribers having 5G-capable smartphones by the end of FY24. According to analysts at HSBC, Airtel hiking the base plan tariff from ₹99 to ₹155 in 17 out of 22 circles is another positive contributor to ARPU growth. The telco also underlined that the top 150 towns in the country account for 40% of the total industry revenue. To drive its revenue growth, Airtel said it would focus on these towns in terms of expanding its postpaid subscriber base, attracting subscribers with its 5G availability. According to an analysis by HSBC, postpaid ARPUs stand at 1.6-1.7x that of prepaid, and Airtel’s focus on increasing its postpaid subscriber base augurs well for ARPU growth. Lastly, Airtel also said that it expects 20% of its subscribers to have 5G-capable devices by the end of March 2024. The telco has a target of reaching 300 cities by then, and analysts<a href="https://m.economictimes.com/industry/telecom/telecom-news/airtel-jio-target-100-150-million-5g-conversions-by-march-2024/articleshow/96837399.cms"> expect</a> high data allowances to lure existing subscribers into converting to 5G. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Airtel chairman hints at tariff hike by mid-year" comment="subhead" text="Airtel chairman hints at tariff hike by mid-year">Airtel chairman hints at tariff hike by mid-year</cmsannotation> Analysts have been <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/bharti-airtel-and-reliance-jio-could-hike-tariffs-by-as-much-as-10-according-to-analysts/articleshow/96375427.cms">expecting tariff hikes</a> for a few months now but the hikes have been slow to materialise. Now, Airtel chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal has said that a tariff hike is likely by mid-2023. “Lot of capital has been injected that has made the balance sheet strong but the return on capital of this industry is very low. That needs to change. We are talking of small increments that need to come in the Indian tariff situation. I hope half (by mid) of this year,” Mittal said at the ongoing Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, responding to a PTI query. Although Airtel’s ARPU at ₹193 is the best in the industry, it is still significantly lower than the ₹300 the company<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/bharti-airtels-ceo-wants-vodafone-idea-to-survive-and-stay-on/articleshow/73973990.cms"> has said is the minimum ARPU necessary to ensure reasonable return on capital.</a> Responding to a query on the impact of tariff increase on people at the bottom of the pyramid, <a href="https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/tags/sunil-bharti-mittal.html">Mittal</a> said the hike would be low compared to people’s spending on other things and disagreed that they will be impacted. "Salaries have gone up, rents have gone (up), except one thing. There is no one complaining. People are consuming 30 GB for almost paying nothing. We don't have more Vodafone type scenarios in the country,” Mittal added, underlining the need for tariff hikes. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Data usage and subscribers on the rise" comment="subhead" text="Data usage and subscribers on the rise">Data usage and subscribers on the rise</cmsannotation> In its Q3 FY23 earnings,<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/bharti-airtel-q3-net-profit-jumps-91-to-1588-crore-misses-estimates/articleshow/97698481.cms"> Airtel reported</a> data usage of 20.8GB per user per month during the quarter, increasing from 18.7GB during the same period a year ago – this is a 11% increase year-on-year. Another shot in the arm for Airtel during the quarter was a healthy addition of data users – the telco reported an increase of 6.4 million data subscribers sequentially and 21.2 million year-on-year. Airtel’s 4G subscribers as a percentage of its total subscribers also witnessed an improvement in the December quarter, increasing to 65% from 61% a year ago. The rise in 4G subscribers also reflects in the ARPU growth on a year-on-year basis, which rose to ₹193 in Q3 FY23, from ₹163 in Q3 FY22. Put together, wider 5G availability, converting existing subscribers to 5G by luring them with higher data allowances, focussing on the top 150 towns and targeting postpaid subscriber growth should help Airtel deliver ARPU improvements. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/passenger-vehicles-to-continue-driving-auto-sales-in-february-evs-gain-a-stronghold/articleshow/98272857.cms">Passenger vehicles to continue driving auto sales in February, EVs gain a stronghold</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/spicejet-to-raise-2500-crore-fresh-capital-convert-carlyles-debt-into-equity-and-demerge-cargo-biz/articleshow/98270557.cms">SpiceJet to raise ₹2,500 crore fresh capital, convert Carlyle’s debt into equity and demerge cargo biz</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/elephant-will-not-march-but-run-powered-by-private-consumption-union-amc/articleshow/98182584.cms">Elephant will not march but run, powered by private consumption: Union AMC</a>

Airtel’s ARPU improvements to be driven by postpaid subscribers and 5G-powered premiumisation

<ul><li><keyword id="44033" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="hike" source="Orion">Hike</keyword>’s <keyword id="13026722" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rush-gaming-universe" source="Orion">Rush Gaming Universe</keyword> has clocked in $100 million in annualised gross revenue since launching in March 2021. </li><li><keyword id="1245893" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rgu" source="Orion">RGU</keyword> plans to double its revenue by the end of the year, according to Hike’s CEO and founder <keyword id="6567188" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="kavin-bharti-mittal" source="Orion">Kavin Bharti Mittal</keyword>. </li><li>In an exclusive interview with Business Insider, Mittal explains how reaching that target involves NFTs, new games and new features. </li></ul>Hike’s mobile-only gaming platform, The Rush Gaming Universe (RGU), has hit $100 million in annualised gross revenue in 15 months since going live. According to Hike’s founder, Kavin Bharti Mittal, the game is likely to double its gross revenue before the end of the year. <div type="image" title="RGU." msid="92128510" hostid="261"></div> “A large part of it is double down on the NFTs we launched a couple of weeks ago. And, increasing their spread across the application,” Kavin Bharti Mittal told Business Insider in an exclusive interview. The bite-sized gaming application currently has 10 games. According to Mittal, another four will be added in the next quarter. RGU also plans to introduce tournaments and a leaderboard feature in the coming months as well. <div type="ExtQuote" text="One [of the games] that we’re specifically excited about is a Battle Royale game – a PubG system game, a SPS, on the platform," auname="Kavin Bharti Mittal, CEO and founder of Hike, told Business Insider"></div> <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Web2 &amp; Web3" comment="subhead" text="Web2 &amp; Web3">Web2 &amp; <keyword id="12465420" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="web3" source="Orion">Web3</keyword></cmsannotation> RGU launched its <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/rush-gaming-universe-announce-whitepaper-with-a-roadmap-to-create-new-economic-opportunities-for-indians/articleshow/91614549.cms">whitepaper</a> last month, in which the platform highlights its underlying aim to create new economic opportunities for its community. “We’re very excited about that. It’s a new way of operating in web2. In web3, you’re completely transparent and out there,” Mittal told Business Insider. The roadmap for the coming year includes the launch of a ‘Special Access NFT’, a token, and the creation of an NFT marketplace. “Our goal is to embed the NFTs deeper into the gameplay to show people within the application that this is a real asset. That you can play with it and also unlock new economic opportunities,” explained Mittal. Despite the recent economic downturn, Mittal remains optimistic that RGU will be able to weather the storm. According to him, unlike crypto exchanges – like Coinbase and Gemini who have been laying off employees – gaming within the scope of play to earn (P2E) will actually end up posing an opportunity, akin to what happened with Axie Infinity during the pandemic. “Gaming becomes a way for people to unlock economic opportunity,” he said.

EXCLUSIVE: Hike’s RGU hits $100 million in annualised gross revenue with eyes on $200 million by the end of the year

<ul><li><keyword id="44033" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="hike" source="Orion">Hike</keyword>’s <keyword id="13026722" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="rush-gaming-universe" source="Orion">Rush Gaming Universe</keyword> unveiled its whitepaper today. </li><li>The roadmap includes the launch of the <keyword id="37572" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="rush" source="Orion">RUSH</keyword> token and an array of non-fungible tokens (NFT), which includes avatars, special access and virtual land.</li><li>The Rush Gaming Universe will be built on the <keyword id="2462624" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="polygon" source="Orion">Polygon</keyword> blockchain.</li></ul>Hike’s Rush Gaming Universe (<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/kavin-bharti-mittal-dives-into-what-hikes-version-of-the-metaverse-is-going-to-look-like/articleshow/89109609.cms">RGU</a>) unveiled its whitepaper today outlining the roadmap for how it plans to bring the platform on-chain. The plan involves a governance token, a two-currency economy and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). It’s the first mobile-only blockchain gaming platform to come out of India and its key challenge will be solving for awareness among the masses, who aren’t necessarily crypto-savvy, and scaling for a population of 1.4 billion. <div type="twitter" handle="kavinbm" handlename="Kavin (kbm.eth)" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1427156181370380288/h526snHE_normal.jpg" favoritecount="55" retweetcount="15" status="1/ GM! ☀️Today I'm super psyched to unveil the whitepaper for @RushGamingU - https://t.co/CbskviYZhMFor a slick… https://t.co/kKtWG00bPX" createdat="1652765713000" id="1526436155293859840"></div> One of the reasons that Axie Infinity saw <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/investment/news/axie-infinity-saw-3-5-billion-nft-transactions-in-2021/articleshow/90153079.cms">massive success</a> was because players in South East Asia were looking for alternative revenue sources at a time when inflation was taking hold and the economic conditions were uncertain. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="New economic opportunities" comment="subhead" text="New economic opportunities">New economic opportunities</cmsannotation> The point of RGU, as with any play-to-earn (P2E) platform, is to create new economic opportunities for its community. Currently, there are 10 games on the platform. Players can battle against each other in 2-player or 4-player matches. In 2022, RGU plans to introduce two new game formats – 1,000-player tournaments and clans – the details of which are still under wraps. The RUSH token, once RGU is on-chain, will represent the economic value of the network. Players owning the RUSH token will get to participate in the potential economic upside as the network grows in value as the contribution of the community grows <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="RGU wants to solve blockchain tokenomics" comment="subhead" text="RGU wants to solve blockchain tokenomics">RGU wants to solve blockchain tokenomics</cmsannotation> Gaming has a <a href="https://venturebeat.com/2022/04/28/animoca-brands-yat-siu-the-big-picture-view-of-blockchain-games/">love-hate</a> relationship with the blockchain. Hardcore gamers believe game-fi is making the actual games less entertaining. And, even though blockchain gaming saw incredible hype during the pandemic, the misalignment of in-game tokenomics, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/investment/news/axie-infinity-has-an-inflation-problem-and-without-more-players-its-going-to-be-a-tough-fix/articleshow/87840750.cms">leading to inflation</a> and subsequent drop in values, has even seasoned play-to-earn (P2E) gamers <a href="https://beincrypto.com/gaming-players-are-losing-interest-in-p2e-games-heres-the-fix/">losing interest</a>. The Rush Gaming Universe is trying to solve these two issues. One is keeping the focus on building AAA quality games, which they develop in house. And the other is the limited supply of NFTs or the upcoming RUSH token. There will only be 15,999 ‘Special Access Pass’ NFTs, scheduled to go on sale in June 2022, according to the <a href="https://whitepaper.rush.network/rush-gaming-universe-v1.0/On-chain/nfts/special-access-pass-nft">whitepaper</a>. The token supply of RUSH is capped at three billion. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="What is the RUSH token anyway?" comment="subhead" text="What is the RUSH token anyway?">What is the RUSH token anyway?</cmsannotation> The RUSH token will be RGU’s governance token. It will essentially give players the right to vote on proposals, buy NFTs, and earn rewards through staking and gameplay. As the community and networks grow, the value of the token will grow. Half of the three billion tokens will be dedicated to the RGU ecosystem. This allocation will be used for gameplay, game-fi, community airdrops and to build the community. Around 30% of the RUSH token will be allocated to Hike and team building the RGU. This is to keep the team incentivised to keep building after a successful token sale, align the incentives of existing investors in the Hike team, and serve as a way for the Hike team to raise funds over time to fund further development of the project. Last week, Hike announced a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/kavin-bharti-mittals-hike-raises-fresh-funds-for-its-web3-play-to-earn-blockchain-gaming-project/articleshow/91373455.cms">fresh round of funding</a> led by Jump Crypto and saw participation from Tribe Capital and Republic Crypto as well. Before July, RGU plans to announce the Rush Special Access NFT sale. In the second half of the year, the RUSH token pre-sale will go live. RUSH staking – players will be able to place tokens as collateral in order to vote – and NFT staking will also be introduced alongside the launch of an in-house NFT marketplace. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/tether-losing-its-one-to-one-us-dollar-peg-exposed-its-vulnerability-and-a-way-to-build-confidence-in-the-stablecoin/articleshow/91578910.cms">Tether losing its one-to-one US dollar peg exposed its vulnerability — but also showed how the stablecoin can build confidence in the future</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/kavin-bharti-mittals-hike-raises-fresh-funds-for-its-web3-play-to-earn-blockchain-gaming-project/articleshow/91373455.cms">Kavin Bharti Mittal’s Hike raises fresh funds for its web3 play-to-earn blockchain gaming project</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/rush-by-hike-plans-to-turn-into-a-play-to-earn-game-with-polygon-matic-blockchain/articleshow/89154622.cms">Kavin Bharti Mittal's Hike partners with Polygon to bring the Rush Gaming Universe onto web3</a>

Rush Gaming Universe announces whitepaper with a roadmap to create new economic opportunities for Indians

<ul><li><keyword id="44033" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="hike" source="Orion">Hike</keyword> has raised a new round of funds from marquee web3 investors <keyword id="13620005" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="jump-crypto" source="Orion">Jump Crypto</keyword>, <keyword id="9200827" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="tribe-capital" source="Orion">Tribe Capital</keyword> and <keyword id="12309404" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="republic-crypto" source="Orion">Republic Crypto</keyword>.</li><li>The fresh funding will be used to bring Hike’s gaming platform, the Rush Gaming Universe, onto the blockchain. </li><li><keyword id="6567188" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="kavin-bharti-mittal" source="Orion">Kavin Bharti Mittal</keyword>, CEO and founder of Hike, wants to create a gaming experience where gamers are owners of the assets they create online.</li></ul> Kavin Bharti Mittal’s homegrown startup, Hike, has raised fresh funds for its gaming platform, the Rush Gaming Universe. Led by Jump Crypto, the round also saw participation from Tribe Capital and <keyword id="12968708" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="republic-capital" source="Orion">Republic Capital</keyword>’s Republic Crypto. The company has not disclosed the funds raised by the three investors. However, it plans to use most of these funds to build out their web3 vision for Rush Gaming Universe (RGU). Mittal wants to bring consumers in emerging markets like India on-chain by creating a blockchain gaming platform where users can play, earn and grow. <div type="ExtQuote" text="India being a mobile-first market needs a unique approach and our years of building for this market help tremendously in building a seamless user experience to bring the next billion users on-chain. We’re incredibly excited about the future" auname="Founder and CEO of Hike, Kavin Bharti Mittal"></div> <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="It takes time for technology to catch up" comment="subhead" text="It takes time for technology to catch up">It takes time for technology to catch up</cmsannotation> Mittal initially wanted to launch RGU on blockchain 15 months ago when they created the application. According to him, at the time, there were too many bottlenecks within the technology. It was only in January this year that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/rush-by-hike-plans-to-turn-into-a-play-to-earn-game-with-polygon-matic-blockchain/articleshow/89154622.cms">Hike partnered with Polygon</a> to bring RGU onto web3. The platform also airdropped non-fungible tokens (NFTs) called <keyword id="13842773" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="rush-avatars" source="Orion">Rush Avatars</keyword> to its existing users on the path to coming on-chain. In just 13 months since its launch in March last year, the Rush Gaming Universe is clocking in over 160 million gameplays every quarter with over $90 million in gross winnings annually across 1.8 million monthly active users (MAUs). <div type="image" title="IMG-20220506-WA0007" msid="91373637" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Monthly active users, games played and gross winnings distributed.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Hike's new strategic investors" comment="subhead" text="Hike's new strategic investors">Hike's new strategic investors</cmsannotation> In building RGU’s vision for web3 gaming, Jump Crypto will serve as the market maker to help the platform navigate exchanges, Tribe Capital comes with years of expertise in the web3 world, while Republic Crypto will act as a token advisory and sale partner. <div type="ExtQuote" text="We’re excited to finally see a mobile-only product emerge in the web3 space. Gaming is going to be a gateway for the next billion users to come onto crypto and Hike’s Rush Gaming Universe is building a seamless web3 experience to enable that." auname="Arjun Sethi, Co-Founder and Partner at Tribe Capital"></div> The lead investor, Jump Crypto, has made over 23 investments in crypto projects globally including Streamflow, SnackClub, and Ethereum Push Notification Service (EPNS) – a homegrown blockchain communication decentralised application (dApp) founded by Harsh Rajat. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/bitcoin-craters-7-amid-broader-stock-market-sell-off-reinforcing-its-high-correlation-to-risk-assets/articleshow/91354850.cms">Bitcoin craters 7% amid broader stock market sell-off, reinforcing its high correlation to risk assets</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/bored-ape-yacht-club-drives-196-spike-in-weekly-nft-sales-these-were-the-5-best-selling-digital-collections-/articleshow/91322399.cms">Bored Ape Yacht Club drives 196% spike in weekly NFT sales. These were the 5 best-selling digital collections.</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/microstrategy-said-it-would-face-a-margin-call-and-be-forced-to-sell-some-of-its-crypto-if-bitcoin-falls-to-21000/articleshow/91320454.cms">Microstrategy said it would face a margin call and be forced to sell some of its crypto if bitcoin falls to $21,000</a>

Kavin Bharti Mittal’s Hike raises fresh funds for its web3 play-to-earn blockchain gaming project

<ul><li><keyword id="6567188" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="kavin-bharti-mittal" source="Orion">Kavin Bharti Mittal</keyword>’s Rush by Hike has partnered with the layer-2 blockchain platform, <keyword id="2462624" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="polygon" source="Orion">Polygon</keyword>.</li><li>The <keyword id="13026722" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rush-gaming-universe" source="Orion">Rush Gaming Universe</keyword> is currently a web2 platform with an endeavour to turn itself into a play-to-earn (P2E) game that functions on the blockchain.</li><li>The whitepaper is set to launch next month.</li></ul>Kavin Bharti Mittal’s ‘Rush by Hike’ has announced that its newest endeavour to turn into a play-to-earn (P2E) game will be done on the Polygon blockchain. The two startups have partnered up to bring Hike’s Rush Gaming Universe into the web3 era. In a previous interview with Business Insider, Mittal <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/kavin-bharti-mittal-dives-into-what-hikes-version-of-the-metaverse-is-going-to-look-like/articleshow/89109609.cms">revealed</a> that the game plans to launch its whitepaper in February. The company’s engineers had been experimenting with coding languages like Rust for Solana and Solidity for Ethereum, but seem to have finalised on Polygon’s MATIC which uses Golang, which is an open-source programming language compatible with Ethereum networks, for the next phase of development. <div type="ExtQuote" text="“With Polygon, we’re going to bring The Rush Gaming Universe on-chain in 2022 on top of the vast and vibrant Ethereum ecosystem to deliver on this vision.&quot;" auname="Kavin Bharti Mittal said in a statement"></div> According to him, the Rush Gaming Universe won’t be anything like Decentraland, Axie Infinity or any of the P2E games that users are familiar with so far. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="What is the Rush Gaming Universe?" comment="subhead" text="What is the Rush Gaming Universe?">What is the Rush Gaming Universe?</cmsannotation> As things stand, the Rush Gaming Universe is a web2 platform. It’s available to play on mobile, where users can earn money — with a ₹3.5 cap a day in the free version — by playing different games like Quizzy and Carom. Mittal plans for going web3 were initiated a while back but the issue was scalability. Most blockchain-based platforms are smaller when they start out and they start on-chain. With the Rush Gaming Universe, however, the platform is already live and is doing 100 million gameplays every three months. That scale needs to be brought onto the blockchain now. According to Hike, Polygon has scaling solutions that remove that bottleneck in a cost-effective way. In the 12 months since it has launched, the platform is now bringing in $50 million annual recurring revenue (ARR). SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/kavin-bharti-mittal-dives-into-what-hikes-version-of-the-metaverse-is-going-to-look-like/articleshow/89109609.cms">EXCLUSIVE: Kavin Bharti Mittal dives into what Hike’s version of the metaverse is going to look like</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/investment/news/profit-from-bitcoin-mining-is-shrinking-with-prices-in-the-dumps-and-difficulty-on-the-rise/articleshow/89106547.cms">Bitcoin mining profit is shrinking with prices in dumps and difficulty on the rise</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/investment/news/coindcx-hiring-2000-plus-people-this-year-crypto-coders-developers-product-development-and-other-roles/articleshow/88972086.cms">EXCLUSIVE: CoinDCX plans to hire more than 2,000 people this year — and they are not just looking at coders</a>

Kavin Bharti Mittal's Hike partners with Polygon to bring the Rush Gaming Universe onto web3

<ul><li>Hike’s whitepaper for going web3 is set to go live next month.</li><li>The process of taking <keyword id="13026719" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rush-by-hike" source="Orion">Rush by Hike</keyword> on-chain will occur over the next three to six months.</li><li>In an exclusive interview with Business Insider, <keyword id="6567188" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="kavin-bharti-mittal" source="Orion">Kavin Bharti Mittal</keyword> shares details on what the Hike virtual world will look like.</li></ul>Tech entrepreneur Kavin Bharti Mittal is ready to enter the web3 universe with his app, Rush by Hike, this year. The founder and CEO of Hike plans to launch the whitepaper for the <keyword id="13026722" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rush-gaming-universe" source="Orion">Rush Gaming Universe</keyword> next month, which will spell out the details of his vision and the tokenomics of the platform that Mittal and the Hike team have been building for a while now. <div type="ExtQuote" text="“We are releasing a white paper, it’s on-track to be released next month. And, that’s going to be talking about everything we’ll be doing on-chain.&quot;" auname="Kavin Bharti Mittal revealed in an exclusive interview with Business Insider"></div> The details are still a work in progress and will be revealed over the next three to four weeks. However, Mittal hinted at non-fungible tokens (NFTs), Hike’s own cryptocurrency and other economic opportunities for players looking for ownership of their digital assets. Simply put, the Rush Gaming Universe will be a community-led virtual world where users will be able to own what they create and earn from the time they spend online. <div type="ExtQuote" text="“The Rush Gaming Universe is a social gaming universe. We call it a ‘virtual world’ — we differentiate that from the ‘metaverse’ a little bit. For us, the metaverse is simply an upgrade of the internet.”" auname="Kavin Bharti Mittal told Business Insider"></div> <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="A made-in-India wallet" comment="subhead" text="A made-in-India wallet">A made-in-India wallet</cmsannotation> The number of people who have access to the internet in India has surged over the past decade. But, most of these people are accessing the online world through their phones — not through laptops or desktops. Meanwhile, when it comes to web3 and decentralised applications (DApps), they have thus far only been built for access through web browsers — like Chrome and Firefox — or using web extensions. “The only way for us to go along with everything we’re launching is to explore our own wallet or go work with a partner who has made a lot of progress,” Mittal explained. “We’re very close to making a decision. We’re exploring both opportunities. What we’ll do, we’ll know probably in a week, a week and a half.” And, where there’s a wallet, they have to be digital assets, whether those are NFTs or fungible cryptocurrency. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Non-fungible tokens in a play-to-earn (P2E) world" comment="subhead" text="Non-fungible tokens in a play-to-earn (P2E) world">Non-fungible tokens in a play-to-earn (P2E) world</cmsannotation> To the layman, Hike’s avatars may not look like anything more than digital headshots. However, each avatar is meant to be unique to each user. Just like the underlying philosophy behind a non-fungible token (NFT). To be fair, avatar NFT projects aren’t new. The Bored Ape Yacht Club, CryptoPunks, CryptoKitties, Meebits, and Cool Cats are some popular examples that saw explosive growth over the past one year. But, the space is far from saturated. Many consider avatars to be one of the most burgeoning subsets within the NFT ecosystem with users looking to create their own unique identities within virtual worlds. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="It’s going to take another three to six months to hammer out the details" comment="subhead" text="It’s going to take another three to six months to hammer out the details">It’s going to take another three to six months to hammer out the details </cmsannotation>Rush by Hike has a Telegram community of more than 50,000 subscribers. And, the team behind the gaming platform engages with fans for feedback on the gameplay, avatars, what games they would like to see next and other aspects. “And, the community actually votes, by the way. So they have a large role to play in the roadmap of the platform, which is how the web3 community is actually built,” Mittal revealed. Earlier this month, the community actually voted for their own moderators — an indicator of self-organisation. “It gives you a sense of what’s possible already. As you bring things on-chain, in say the next three to six months, when you share incentives building the Rush Gaming Universe, then so much more is possible, ”he added, hinting at the possibility of a governance token. Members of Hike’s team have already been experimenting with RUST for Solana, Solidity for Ethereum and other programming languages. However, there’s no final word on which blockchain Hike will choose to go with at the end of the day. Moreover, most crypto projects start small on-chain themselves. However, with Hike, Mittal plans to bring what’s already happening off-chain onto the blockchain. “We’re already doing 100 million games a quarter. You can’t put that on a blockchain immediately,” explained Mittal. <div type="ExtQuote" text="“The Rushing Gaming Universe aims to be one of the prominent virtual worlds within the metaverse. Inside which, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to become owners in the economies, in the networks, in the gameplay, and so on and so forth.”" auname="Kavin Bharti Mittal told Business Insider"></div> In order to build out his web3 vision for the Rush Gaming Universe, Mittal plans to expand the current team by 40% this year from its current strength of 145. “We’re hiring mostly product people, designers and engineers. And, a couple of other positions like chief of staff or chief economist and so on,” he said. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/bitcoin-recovers-with-equity-markets-but-altcoins-are-still-struggling-to-find-a-bottom/slidelist/89107434.cms">Bitcoin recovers with equity markets, but altcoins are still struggling to find a bottom</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/investment/news/profit-from-bitcoin-mining-is-shrinking-with-prices-in-the-dumps-and-difficulty-on-the-rise/articleshow/89106547.cms">Bitcoin mining profit is shrinking with prices in dumps and difficulty on the riseBitcoin mining profit is shrinking with prices in dumps and difficulty on the rise</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/investment/news/coindcx-hiring-2000-plus-people-this-year-crypto-coders-developers-product-development-and-other-roles/articleshow/88972086.cms">EXCLUSIVE: CoinDCX plans to hire more than 2,000 people this year — and they are not just looking at coders</a>

EXCLUSIVE: Kavin Bharti Mittal dives into what Hike’s version of the metaverse is going to look like

<ul><li>Hike is looking to hire 30 new employees and will hand out referral bonuses in <keyword id="695282" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="eth" source="Orion">Eth</keyword>er (ETH), the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum blockchain.</li><li>It’s looking to find people to fill the roles of ‘chief meme officer’ and ‘<keyword id="12774280" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="crypto-game-economist" source="Orion">crypto game economist</keyword>’.</li><li>Having raised funds for the first time in five years in August, the company had said that it would use the new capital to hire new teams and expand its product strategy.</li></ul><keyword id="6567188" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="kavin-bharti-mittal" source="Orion">Kavin Bharti Mittal</keyword>, the founder of messaging app Hike and Indian telecom baron Sunil Mittal’s son, is offering anyone Ether (ETH) tokens in return for referring new employees for his company. The initiative is for Hike’s new gaming initiative, called the Rush Gaming Universe. The company is planning on adding around 30 new employees to its existing roster of 140. The <a href="https://hikeapp.notion.site/hikeapp/Work-at-Hike-e3b4884f45164bad8f67c10dae555ffd#2c2cebff92264113ac220fa487bec706">positions include roles</a> like ‘crypto game economist’, ‘chief meme officer’ and ‘senior product manager - crypto’. The company is offering ETH referrals for 10 roles, and there’s a total of 4 ETH – which is around ₹11.6 lakh at the time of writing — up for grabs. This includes 1 ETH each for referring a ‘crypto game economist’ and ‘chief of staff’ for Mittal’s office. Full list of roles Hike is hiring for as of December 20: <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 451.276pt;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Role </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Bounty </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Crypto Game Economist </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">1 ETH </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Chief of Staff, CEO Office </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">1 ETH </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Senior Product Manager - Crypto/Gaming </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">0.5 ETH </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Chief Meme Officer </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">0.25 ETH </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Engineering Manager, Gaming </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">0.25 ETH </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Principal ML Scientist </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">0.20 ETH </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Software Engineer, DevOps </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">0.20 ETH </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Backend Engineer, Gaming </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">0.20 ETH </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Senior Analyst, Product/Revenue </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">0.20 ETH </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">SDET - iOS </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">0.20 ETH </td></tr></tbody></table> <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="New funding to fuel new talent" comment="subhead" text="New funding to fuel new talent">New funding to fuel new talent </cmsannotation>The ailing firm, which shut down its messaging app earlier this year, had raised funds for the first time in five years this August. While Hike didn’t disclose the amount raised, the round included Tinder co-founders Justin Mateen and Sean Rad, SoftBank Vision Fund’s chief executive Rajeev Misra, Zeta co-founder Bhavin Turakhia and Cred’s Kunal Shah, among others. “The rapid technological evolution over the last few years has paved the way for massive disruption in social and gaming. There’s little to separate these two categories. Gaming is now inherently social, evolving into a new way for people to hang out and interact in the virtual world,” Mittal said at the time. Hike was going to use the new funds to expand hire across functions and expand its product strategy. And, a part of it at least, seems to involve cryptocurrencies and Web3. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/india-may-ask-crypto-exchanges-to-appoint-grievance-officers-in-crypto-bill/articleshow/88384965.cms"></a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/india-may-ask-crypto-exchanges-to-appoint-grievance-officers-in-crypto-bill/articleshow/88384965.cms">India’s crypto bill may take a page out of the new IT rules and ask exchanges to appoint a grievance officer</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/heres-what-the-government-has-been-discussing-behind-closed-doors-as-it-looks-to-regulate-crypto-in-india/articleshow/88311964.cms">INTERVIEW: The Indian Government is asking experts these questions as it mulls over the crypto bill — and the metaverse isn’t one of them yet</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/imfs-gita-gopinath-wants-a-global-policy-on-cryptocurrencies-not-a-ban/articleshow/88316458.cms">IMF’s Gita Gopinath wants a global policy on cryptocurrencies – not a ban</a>

Kavin Bharti Mittal's Hike is offering ETH to anyone who find a 'chief meme officer' or a 'crypto game economist' for the company

<ul><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/trendsfestival" data-type="tilCustomLink">Global Trends Festival</a> is one of the world's most prestigious events which will be live from Oct 19-23.</li><li>While nobel laureates, some of the biggest political and corporate icons will provide thought leadership, it's a great platform to network with CXOs from around the world.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/trendsfestival" data-type="tilCustomLink">Global Trends Festival 2020</a> is presented by <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/trendsfestival" data-type="tilCustomLink"></a><a href="https://aws.amazon.com/" data-type="tilCustomLink">AWS</a>.</li><li>Register for the <keyword id="10088455" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="global-trends-festival">Global Trends Festival</keyword> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/trendsfestival" data-type="tilCustomLink"></a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/trendsform_2020.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">here</a>.</li></ul> Social connection is a core human need. And the time is ripe for tapping into the virtual economy, which is poised for growth. So believes Kavin Bharti Mittal, one of India’s young entrepreneurs, who turned his start-up into a unicorn within four years of its launch. <keyword id="866223" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kavin-Mittal">Kavin Mittal</keyword> was in Imperial College in London when the iPhone had just launched, and an app ecosystem was being actively built. The young 20-year old jumped into the ring and launched an app called Movies Now (not to be confused with the TV channel), which was Apple’s first ticketing app. By the time he finished his course and came home, he decided not to join his father, Sunil Bharti Mittal’s Airtel, unlike his twin brother Shravin. Instead, in 2012, he focussed on developing India’s first homegrown messaging platform, <keyword id="44033" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="hike">Hike</keyword>. The app captured the imagination of the young, and soon Tencent invested $175 million, and its valuation rose to nearly $1.4 billion. Kavin’s zen-like approach to business and his calm demeanour helped even as the app ecosystem turned competitive. He unbundled the super app into messaging and gaming and creating new-age virtual experiences. Hike Moji is a way to communicate via emojis, while Hike Land is its innovative tryst with social media. He is also actively looking for ways to earn more revenue from its users, and virtual currency is one of them. At the Global Trends Festival 2020, Kavin will share insights on India’s internet users, emerging trends, and ways in which companies can capitalize on bringing the next 200 million Indians to spend online. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/trendsfestival" data-type="tilCustomLink"></a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/watch-sangita-reddy-president-ficci-speak-about-women-entrepreneurship-and-economic-leadership-at-the-global-trends-festival-2020/articleshow/78574587.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Watch Sangita Reddy, President, FICCI, speak about women entrepreneurship and economic leadership at the Global Trends Festival 2020</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/trendsfestival" data-type="tilCustomLink"></a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/watch-out-for-prajakta-koli-the-social-media-queen-at-the-global-trends-festival-2020/articleshow/78566982.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Watch out for Prajakta Koli, the social media queen at the Global Trends Festival 2020</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/trendsfestival" data-type="tilCustomLink"></a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/robert-lewandowski-named-europes-footballer-of-the-year-2019-20-will-speak-at-the-business-insider-global-trends-festival/articleshow/78540478.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Robert Lewandowski, named Europe’s Footballer of the Year 2019-20, will speak at the Business Insider Global Trends Festival</a>

Watch Kavin Mittal speak about the potential of virtual economy, tapping into Bharat users, and more at Global Trends Festival 2020

<ul><li>Sunil Mittal-led telco <keyword id="15491" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="airtel" source="Orion">Airtel</keyword> has announced a price hike in seven regions.</li><li>The company has hiked the price of its minimum recharge plan from ₹99 to ₹155.</li><li>The company had last announced a price hike in November 2021, increasing the price of plans by up to 25%.</li></ul>Sunil Mittal-led telecom operator Airtel has announced a price hike, increasing the cost of its minimum recharge plan by nearly 57%, a huge increase in a single go. The company has increased the price of its minimum recharge plan from ₹99 to ₹155, a hike of ₹56. Airtel had announced the price hike in Odisha and Haryana in November 2022 and has now announced a wider rollout, covering seven regions, including Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Northeast, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh-West. The telco had earlier announced a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/airtels-popular-prepaid-plans-may-now-cost-you-up-to-25-more/articleshow/87840177.cms">price hike</a> in November 2021, increasing the price of the base plan from ₹79 to ₹99. During this hike, prices of its popular plans were hiked by up to 25%. “In line with our focus on providing better customer experience, we have discontinued the metered tariff and introduced an entry level plan ₹155 with unlimited voice, 1GB of data and 300 SMS. Customers can now use this plan with no constraints. We believe this plan will provide greater flexibility, convenience and superior value,” an Airtel spokesperson said in a statement to Business Insider India. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Airtel’s new ₹155 plan – costs more and offers less validity" comment="subhead" text="Airtel’s new ₹155 plan – costs more and offers less validity">Airtel’s new ₹155 plan – costs more and offers less validity</cmsannotation> The Airtel’s ₹155 plan is not only costlier, it also offers reduced validity. The ₹155 plan offers 1GB data, unlimited local and STD calls and 300 SMS with a validity of 24 days. The telco has also discontinued its ₹129 plan that offered 1GB data, unlimited calling and 300 SMS with a validity of 28 days. This has been replaced with the ₹179 plan that offers 2GB data, unlimited calling and 300 SMS with a validity of 28 days. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Airtel vs Jio vs Vi – base plan compared" comment="subhead" text="Airtel vs Jio vs Vi – base plan compared">Airtel vs Jio vs Vi – base plan compared</cmsannotation> <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.5pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#000000;padding:0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Telcom operator </td><td style="border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#000000;padding:0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Price </td><td style="border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#000000;padding:0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Validity </td><td style="border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#000000;padding:0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Data </td><td style="border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#000000;padding:0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Calling </td><td style="border-right:solid #000000 0.5pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#000000;padding:0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">SMS </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.5pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#d9d9d9;padding:0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Airtel </td><td style="border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#d9d9d9;padding:0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹155 </td><td style="border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#d9d9d9;padding:0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">24 days </td><td style="border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#d9d9d9;padding:0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">1GB </td><td style="border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#d9d9d9;padding:0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Unlimited </td><td style="border-right:solid #000000 0.5pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#d9d9d9;padding:0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">300 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.5pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Reliance Jio </td><td style="border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹155 </td><td style="border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">28 days </td><td style="border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">2GB </td><td style="border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Unlimited </td><td style="border-right:solid #000000 0.5pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">300 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.5pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#d9d9d9;padding:0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Vi </td><td style="border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#d9d9d9;padding:0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹155 </td><td style="border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#d9d9d9;padding:0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">24 days </td><td style="border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#d9d9d9;padding:0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">1GB </td><td style="border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#d9d9d9;padding:0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Unlimited </td><td style="border-right:solid #000000 0.5pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.5pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.5pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#d9d9d9;padding:0pt 5.75pt 0pt 5.75pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">300 </td></tr></tbody></table> While all three telcos now offer the base plan at the same tariff, Mukesh Ambani-led Jio offers 4 days more validity compared to Airtel and Vi and also offers 1GB additional data. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/zomato-gold-re-launched-with-free-deliveries-vip-access-up-to-40-discount-on-dining-and-more/articleshow/97273088.cms">Zomato Gold re-launched with free deliveries, VIP access, up to 40% discount on dining, and more</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/the-oneplus-11-may-undercut-the-iqoo-11-to-be-the-cheapest-snapdragon-8-gen-2-smartphone-in-india/articleshow/97269913.cms">The OnePlus 11 may undercut the iQOO 11 to be the cheapest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 smartphone in India</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/samsung-galaxy-s23-series-to-launch-soon-launch-date-expected-price-and-features/articleshow/97243146.cms">Samsung Galaxy S23 series to launch soon – launch date, expected price and features</a>

You Searched For "hike mittal" and got 12 results

Jio and Airtel lost subscribers in July after tariff hike, BSNL records growth

Sourabh Jain

Reliance Jio and Airtel price hike – new plans and how you can save money

Sourabh Jain

Telecom companies may hike tariffs by up to 17% after the general elections, predict analysts

Sourabh Jain

Airtel’s ARPU improvements to be driven by postpaid subscribers and 5G-powered premiumisation

Rounak Jain

EXCLUSIVE: Hike’s RGU hits $100 million in annualised gross revenue with eyes on $200 million by the end of the year

BI India Bureau

Rush Gaming Universe announces whitepaper with a roadmap to create new economic opportunities for Indians

Sourabh Jain

Kavin Bharti Mittal’s Hike raises fresh funds for its web3 play-to-earn blockchain gaming project

BI India Bureau

Kavin Bharti Mittal's Hike partners with Polygon to bring the Rush Gaming Universe onto web3

Prabhjote Gill

EXCLUSIVE: Kavin Bharti Mittal dives into what Hike’s version of the metaverse is going to look like

Prabhjote Gill

Kavin Bharti Mittal's Hike is offering ETH to anyone who find a 'chief meme officer' or a 'crypto game economist' for the company

BI India Bureau

Watch Kavin Mittal speak about the potential of virtual economy, tapping into Bharat users, and more at Global Trends Festival 2020

BI India Bureau

Airtel price hike announced – customers will have to pay 57% more for the telco’s cheapest plan

Sourabh Jain

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