Nw Desk After failed acquisitions, the Indian social media app Koo shuts down.
The Indian social media app Koo was founded in 2020 amidst lockdown and a global health pandemic. It was touted as India’s alternative to then called Twitter and now X. It was considered a home-grown social media app and an option to engage with others posing as a rival to Twitter.
Indian social media app Koo shuts down.
It was reported that despite raising more than $66 million from investors like 3one4 Capital and Accel and being valued at $275 million, Koo struggled to make its mark in the digital realm. It needed help to secure the necessary funding to sustain operations and compete with established players. The inability to attract additional long-term capital has resulted in the Koo app closing down.
The founder posted about shutting down on LinkedIn.
Co-founder Aprameya Radhakrishnan, in a joint post along with Co-founder Mayank Bidawatka, said, “Patient, long-term capital is essential to build ambitious, world-beating products from India be it in social media, AI, space, EV or other futuristic categories. It will need a lot more capital when the space has a global giant already.” The founders’ decision came after several rounds of discussions for a potential sale or merger with multiple companies, including Dailyhunt, which failed, as shared by people aware.
“It needs a strategic outlook,” said Aprameya Radhakrishnan.
In the post shared, he further said, “And when one of these companies takes off, it can’t be left to the whims of the capital market, which goes up and down. It needs a strategic outlook to safeguard it and make it thrive. These aren’t to be looked at as profit-churning machines two years from launch. They need to be nurtured for a larger long-term play. We would love to see that long-term view for large bets from India.”
In a long LinkedIn post, he shared how they explored partnerships with several larger internet companies, conglomerates, and media houses, but the talks didn’t yield the desired outcomes. Also, the prolonged funding winter got the better of them. Lastly, Aprameya and Mayank ended the post by saying, “The little yellow bird says its final goodbye.”
