Koo, India’s homegrown microblogging platform with around 10 million active users, is shutting down after failing to secure crucial partnerships and funding. Co-founders Aprameya Radhakrishna and Mayank Bidawatka announced the closure on LinkedIn, citing unsuccessful acquisition talks with potential buyers. “We explored partnerships with multiple larger internet companies, conglomerates, and media houses, but these talks didn’t yield the outcome we wanted,” they stated.
Despite initial success and high-profile users (with over 9000 celebrities registered), Koo struggled to sustain growth and generate revenue. The platform, which supported multiple Indian languages and expanded into Brazil, had 60 million downloads and secured over $60 million in funding from investors like Tiger Global and Accel. However, the high cost of technology services and a prolonged funding winter hindered its operations. “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 noted.
The founders now plan to evaluate turning Koo’s assets into a digital public good, expressing their willingness to share these assets with someone who has a strong vision for India’s role in social media. They stated, “We built a globally scalable product in a fraction of the time that X/Twitter did, with superior systems, algorithms, and strong stakeholder-first philosophies.”
Reflecting on their journey, they emphasized the challenges of running a social media platform, the impact of market timing, and the need for patient, long-term capital to build ambitious, world-beating products from India. Despite the closure, the founders remain optimistic about future entrepreneurial endeavors, thanking their team, investors, creators, users, and journalists for their support.
“The little yellow bird says its final goodbye…,” concluded Aprameya and Mayank.
