The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Microblogging platform Koo shuts shop
HOMEGROWN MICROBLOGGING platform Koo, which had positioned itself as a rival and viable alternative to Twitter (now X) is shutting down. Its cofounders, Aprameya Radhakrishna and Mayank Bidawatka, on Wednesday announced that the platform will be discontinuing its services to the public, as talks for a partnership with multiple larger internet companies, conglomerates and media houses did not yield the desired outcome.
The platform had started off well around three years ago – March 2021 – when the government was locked in a tiff with Twitter over intermediary guidelines, but slowly started losing momentum, witnessing a sharp decline in its monthly active user base. The platform had a good start, notching some 30 million downloads in the first two years of its launch.
“We explored partnership with multiple larger internet companies, conglomerates and media houses, but these talks didn't yield the outcome we wanted,” the co-founders wrote in a post on Linkedin.
The duo said that although they would have liked to keep the app running, “the cost of technology services to keep a social media app running is high and we've had to take this tough decision”.
At its peak, Koo grossed about 2.1 million daily active users, about 10 million monthly active users, and over 9,000 VIPS that included some of the most prominent personalities from various fields.
“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,” they said.
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 little yellow bird says its final goodbye “— APRAMEYA RADHAKRISHNA & MAYANK BIDAWATKA
CO-FOUNDERS, KOO