Koo, the Indian social media platform that aimed to rival Twitter, is shutting down. Founders Aprameya Radhakrishna and Mayank Bidawatka announced the decision, citing failed partnership talks and high technology costs. The company started laying off a significant part of the workforce in April 2023.
At its peak, Koo had around 2.1 million daily active users and 10 million monthly users, including over 9000 VIPs. Despite their success, financial challenges and a prolonged funding winter forced them to scale down. The founders highlighted the unpredictable capital market and high technology costs as major issues.
In their farewell message, they expressed gratitude to supporters, team, investors, creators, and users. They remain optimistic about future ventures and thanked everyone for their support. Koo aimed to democratise expression by allowing users to connect in local languages. Despite its shutdown, the founders hope for an inclusive platform in the future. Koo’s journey underscores the challenges of building a social media platform in a multilingual country like India.