Social media startup Koo, once seen as a homegrown alternative to X (formerly Twitter), is set to shut down operations following unsuccessful acquisition negotiations. Co-founders Aprameya Radhakrishna and Mayank Bidawatka announced the closure in a LinkedIn post on July 3, citing the high costs of maintaining the platform without adequate funding.
Koo, launched in March 2020 by Radhakrishna and Bidawatka, gained traction during the 2021 standoff between the Indian government and Twitter over takedown requests related to farmer protests. Despite its early success and expansion into Brazil in November 2022, the platform struggled to sustain its growth.
“We explored partnerships with multiple larger internet companies, conglomerates, and media houses, but these talks didn’t yield the desired outcome. Most were reluctant to handle user-generated content and the inherent unpredictability of social media,” the co-founders stated.
In recent months, Koo had engaged in acquisition talks with startups like Dailyhunt and Sharechat, but these discussions did not materialize. The company faced significant financial challenges, exacerbated by a prolonged funding winter, leading to layoffs and a reduction in monthly active users (MAUs).
By April 2023, Koo’s MAUs had dropped to about 3.1 million, a significant decline from a peak of 9.4 million in July 2022. Despite efforts to cut costs, including layoffs and other measures, Koo could not reduce its monthly cash burn to sustainable levels.
“The mood of the market and the funding winter got the better of us. Timing the market is an underestimated variable. It can define and discount everything at times,” the founders reflected.
Koo had raised $65 million from investors such as Tiger Global, Accel, 3one4 Capital, Naval Ravikant, Balaji Srinivasan, and Kalaari Capital. However, despite these investments, the company could not secure the long-term capital required to achieve its growth ambitions.
Moving forward, Koo will evaluate transforming its assets into a digital public good to enable social conversations in native languages worldwide. “We will be happy to share some of these assets with someone with a great vision for India’s foray into social media,” the founders added.
The shutdown marks the end of a challenging journey for Koo, underscoring the difficulties of sustaining a social media platform in a competitive and resource-intensive market.
