Koo
Indian social media platform Koo, aiming to rival Elon Musk’s X (formerly known as Twitter), is closing down after failing to reach an acquisition deal. Despite raising over $60 million from investors like Tiger Global and Accel, Koo struggled to grow its user base and achieve profitability in the last year.
Let’s take a close look at the details.
Also read: Koo ‘migrate’ feature allows you to import all your tweets from Twitter and more
In February, TechCrunch reported that Koo was in talks with Dailyhunt, a valued internet media startup worth $5 billion, for a potential acquisition. However, according to Koo founders, these discussions did not culminate in a deal, as confirmed today.
“We explored partnerships with multiple larger internet companies, conglomerates and media houses but these talks didn’t yield the outcome we wanted,” Koo co-founder and CEO Aprameya Radhakrishna wrote in a LinkedIn post today. “Most of them didn’t want to deal with user generated content and the wild nature of a social media company.”
Koo aimed to attract users in India by offering a platform similar to X where they could express themselves in multiple local languages. Koo gained traction during a period of tension between Twitter and the Indian government, which arose after Twitter challenged the government’s opaque requests for content removal.
Last year, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey alleged that the Indian government had threatened to shut down the social network in the country and raid the homes of its employees. The Indian government denied Dorsey’s allegations, with a top minister stating that Dorsey was trying to “brush out that very dubious period of Twitter’s history.”
Seizing the opportunity, Koo positioned itself as a more compliant alternative, promising to follow local regulations. This strategy brought many high-profile Indian politicians to the platform, though few from the opposition party, according to TechCrunch. Koo also expanded its app to Brazil.
For years, Indian entrepreneurs and investors have tried to create homegrown alternatives to popular platforms like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Twitter, and YouTube. It is becoming increasingly clear that these established American companies are better equipped to serve even the most diverse segments of the Indian market.
