Koo, India’s Twitter-like social media app is shutting down after failing to secure deals with “several large internet companies, conglomerates and media houses”.
Koo, an Indian microblogging platform created to compete with X/Twitter, is shutting down. The social media network rose to prominence in 2021 when the Indian government got into a fight with X/Twitter over its non-removal of certain content, prompting several central government ministers and departments to join the fray.
In a recent post on LinkedIn, the company’s co-founder Mayank Pitavatka said they were “exploring partnerships with several large Internet companies, conglomerates and media houses, but these talks have not yielded results” and added that “a couple of them have changed”. Priority is almost close to signing.
The update comes after a report by The Morning Contexts that a deal between Koo and DailyHunt has fallen through. While the app expanded its presence in Brazil and recorded over 1 million downloads within 48 hours of its launch, it struggled to gain traction in the Indian market.
Twitter’s interface is similar to that of an app that allows users to categorize their posts with hashtags and tag other users in comments or replies. The social media network frequently added new features such as “Talk to Type” and supported various Indian languages such as Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, Assamese and Punjabi.
Several prominent Indian politicians like Piyush Goyal, Ravi Shankar Prasad, author Amish Tripathi, cricketer Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath were some of the first people to sign up for Koo. It also managed to attract the attention of famous Brazilian celebrities such as Babu Santana, Claudia Leite and author Rosanna Herman.
In 2022, the Department of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Export Promotion, Government of Uttar Pradesh signed an MoU with Koo to promote its “One District, One Product” initiative. Social media is also working with the Indian government on several projects.
After winning the Atmanirbar Innovation Challenge, a part of the Indian government’s “Make in India” initiative, it was able to secure $60 million in funding from well-known investors like Tiger Global and Accel.
In April last year, the company laid off about 30 percent of its total workforce, or about 300 employees, amid mounting losses, declining active users and weak global sentiment.
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