The instant messaging service had acquired two startups last year.
Instant messaging service, Hike, has decided to downsize its team by 25 per cent post its acquisition of the two startups, InstaLively and Creo in June and August last year. Creo— which it had hired for technology IP and talent—is a Bengaluru-based firm that had developed an HDMI media-streaming device, Teewee. It had around 50 employees.
The InstaLively platform helps broadcast events live and focusses on instant video/audio digitisation on low 3G bandwidths, using just a mobile app. It is cost effective for an enterprise to create/broadcast content from any location.
Hike currently has 350 employees across its two offices—Delhi and Bengaluru. This implies that around 75 employees will have to go. A majority of these employees are from functions including finance, human resources, accounting and technology.
The employees who are getting sacked will get a severance package of two months’ salary or more.
In 2016, the-then four-year-old company was valued at $1.4 billion and received $175 million funding from Tencent and Foxconn.