Indian social media platform Koo, initially launched to provide an alternative for users speaking various Indian languages and to compete with the global giant X, is permanently ceasing operations, as announced by co-founder Mayank Bidawatka on Wednesday. The platform will halt operations immediately. In a detailed note on LinkedIn, signed by co-founder and CEO Aprameya Radhakrishna, they revealed that negotiations with potential partners to sustain the platform have been unsuccessful. They explored partnerships with several major internet companies, conglomerates, and media houses, but these discussions did not meet their expectations.
"Our partnership talks fell through, and we will be discontinuing our service to the public... Most of them (potential partners) didn't want to deal with user-generated content and the unpredictable nature of a social media company. A couple of them changed priority almost close to signing," stated the LinkedIn post. Despite their desire to continue, the high costs of maintaining a social media app led to this difficult decision.
Koo was created with a lot of passion. The founders identified a significant gap between the languages spoken worldwide and the dominance of English in most social products, especially X/Twitter in India. In a world where 80% of the population speaks a language other than English, this was a pressing need. They aimed to democratize expression and facilitate better connections among people in their local languages. Most global products are dominated by Americans, and they believed India should have a voice.
Koo claimed to have built a globally scalable product in a fraction of the time that X/Twitter did. At its peak, Koo had about 2.1 million daily active users and 10 million monthly active users, including 9000+ VIPs. However, a prolonged funding winter affected the platform, forcing them to scale down their growth trajectory. Social media is one of the toughest industries to build in, requiring significant user growth before considering revenue. They needed five to six years of aggressive, long-term, and patient capital to realize this dream.
Koo could have easily scaled internationally and established a global brand truly made in India. This dream will remain unfulfilled. The micro-blogging platform was launched in March 2020 by Aprameya Radhakrishna and Mayank Bidawatka, just before the COVID lockdown. The founders expressed their intention to share some assets with someone who has a great vision for India's social media future. They are also considering transforming their product into a digital public good to facilitate social conversations in native languages worldwide.
This technology is complex and was built painstakingly in record time. Patient, long-term capital is essential for creating ambitious, world-beating products from India, whether in social media, AI, space, EV, or other futuristic categories. These ventures require a strategic outlook and nurturing for a larger long-term impact, not viewed as short-term profit machines. The founders hope to see a long-term perspective for significant investments from India.
The little yellow bird bids a final farewell, ending the emotional note with these poignant words.
