Topline
Koo, the Indian social media website that once claimed to be the second-biggest microblogging platform in the world and boasted a valuation of almost $300 million, announced Wednesday it is ceasing operations after a last-ditch sale attempt fell through.
Koo positioned itself as a "Made-in-India" alternative to Twitter but the platform came under ... [+]
Key Facts
In a statement on LinkedIn, Koo’s founders Aprameya Radhakrishna and Mayank Bidawatka said they are “discontinuing” the service after failed talks with “multiple larger internet companies, conglomerates and media houses” many of whom “didn’t want to deal with user-generated content and the wild nature of a social media company.”
Koo, which launched in late 2019, shot to prominence in 2021 after the Indian government clashed with Twitter (now called X) over its refusal to block certain accounts linked to the 2020-2021 farmers protests.
Several government agencies and prominent ministers joined Koo en-mass echoing Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Atmanirbhar Bharat” (self-reliant India) mantra of promoting local alternatives to foreign firms.
While Koo borrowed heavily from Twitter—including its features, layout and bird logo branding—the prevalence of anti-Muslim hate speech on the platform led to comparisons with other right-wing social platforms like Parler and Gab.
Despite their insistence it was apolitical, Koo founders always leaned into being a nationalist Twitter alternative.
In 2022, the platform claimed it had an active user base of 9 million people and it was boosted by an influx of users from Nigeria—where Twitter is banned—and Brazil.
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Big Number
$285.5 million. That is the peak valuation reached by Koo after it raised money in several funding rounds led by Tiger Global.
Tangent
In a press release issued in late 2022, Koo claimed it was the “second largest microblogging platform” in the world. The company said its app had been downloaded 60 million times and its promotional images showed off high-profile verified users including soccer legend Ronaldinho and the Dalai Lama. In comparison, the X app has been downloaded 10 million times on Android and 5 million times on iOS devices just in the last month, according to Sensor Tower.
Surprising Fact
Koo’s sudden boost in popularity in Brazil came just days after billionaire Elon Musk completed his acquisition of Twitter—which has since been renamed to X. Radhakrishna told Brazilian newspaper Extra the app went from 2,000 users in the country to 1 million users overnight. While concerns about Musk were one of the factors driving Koo’s adoption in Brazil, another one was the fact that its name became a meme among popular online influencers and streamers. In Portuguese the word Koo sounds like Cu which means anus, and online personality Felipe Neto joked about wanting to have the “biggest Koo in Brazil.”
Further Reading
The rise and fall of Koo, India’s once-thriving Twitter alternative (Rest of World)
