Homegrown microblogging platform Koo, which had branded itself as an alternative to X, announced it was shutting down its services, leaving millions of Indians in limbo.
The four-year-old company disclosed that a lack of funding and high technology costs were the primary reasons for closing the shop.
It provides messaging services in over 10 Indian languages. Its popularity skyrocketed in 2021 when several government officials voiced support during a dispute between the Indian government and Twitter (now known as “X”).
The dispute arose when the Indian government requested the US-based platform block several accounts allegedly propagating false information. These accounts included those of journalists, news outlets, and opposition figures.
While X initially complied with the request, it reinstated the accounts, claiming the justification for the block was insufficient. The dispute lingered as the government threatened legal action against the company’s employees in India.
Amid the stand-off, millions of supporters, cabinet ministers, and ruling party officials flocked to Koo overnight, promoting hashtags seeking the prohibition of X in India.
By the end of 2021, the app had garnered 20 million users nationwide, but the numbers have not helped secure funding over the past few years.
Founders Aprameya Radhakrishna and Mayank Bidawatka said that while Koo was close to surpassing X in India in 2022, a “prolonged funder winter” had forced them to scale down their ambitions.
In February, reports from Indian news websites indicated that Koo was in discussions to be acquired by the news aggregator Dailyhunt, a deal that eventually fell through.
Koo made the difficult decision to downsize its workforce after suffering significant financial losses and a lack of funding. While the founders expressed their desire to maintain the app’s operations, the huge technological costs left them with no choice but to make this challenging decision.