New Delhi: Koo, the Indian social media platform envisioned as a homegrown rival to Twitter, will be shutting down due to what its founders Aprameya Radhakrishna and Mayank Bidawatka described as a “prolonged funding winter”. according to a LinkedIn post.
Koo aimed to provide Indians a platform to communicate in their native languages amid an English-dominated social media landscape. However, the platform faced scrutiny for its perceived alignment with India’s ruling BJP and its supporters during a period of tension with Twitter over compliance policies.
Additionally, a potential acquisition by digital media company Dailyhunt did not materialize, as reported by TechCrunch.
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At its peak, Koo boasted 2.1 million daily active users, 10 million monthly active users, and a community of over 9,000 VIPs.
“We were just months away from beating Twitter in India in 2022 and could have doubled down on that short term goal with capital behind us,” the founders stated. “A prolonged funding winter which hit us at our peak hurt our plans at the time and we had to tone down on our growth trajectory.”
Koo had raised $30 million in funding, led by Tiger Global and supported by investors including Accel Partners, Kalaari Capital, Blume Ventures, and Dream Incubator, according to the company.
“We have aggressive plans to grow into one of the world’s largest social media platforms in the next few years. Every Indian is cheering for us to get there soon,” Radhakrishna had remarked in 2021.
