Hike messenger — a free messaging app — from BSB has achieved 20 million users, after launching the service 18 months ago.

Earlier, the company said it achieved 15 million users in 9 months. The next 5 million was added in three months, said BSB.

Close to 90 percent of the app’s users are from India and over 80 percent of its users are under the age of 25.

Also read: hike messenger to double growth after $14 mn funding from BSB

Earlier, BSB, a joint venture between Bharti and SoftBank, has invested $14 million in hike messenger, a mobile messaging app. The additional investment comes after hike, a free cross-platform messaging app, crossed the 15 million user mark.

Kavin Bharti Mittal, head, Product and Strategy, Hike messenger, said, “India has almost a 100 million active mobile internet users in the country and that number is growing rapidly every year. We will continue to focus on introducing new and innovative features to bridge the existing gaps in the IM market in India.”

The company also announced the availability of new feature called Hidden Mode that helps users keep their private chats hidden from others.

hike is available globally on iOS, Android, Blackberry, BB10, WP, S40, S60 and Noxia X.