Indian Social Media Platform 'Koo' Bids Farewell: Founders Cite High Costs and Market Challenges

When we hear the word “Koo” we remember that yellow birdy app that was installed on everyone’s mobile when the news of Twitter(now X) going to shut down was circulated all over the country. But now the Indian social media platform which was once aiming to compete with Twitter is shutting down.

The founders of the application Aprameya Radhakrishna and Mayank Bidawatka announced this news and gave a reason for the failed partnership and high technology costs. The company already started laying off a significant part of employees from April 2023.

“Koo” came when Indian users were not sure about the existence of X as it had some misunderstanding with the government, and users wanted something to stay active and increase followers. And Koo was the one name that was launched at that time.

At the peak of use, the app had around 21 Lakh active daily users and a user count of 1 Crore users monthly. Even after all these challenges the app was facing financial challenges and a shortage of funds led them to lay off employees. When asked the founders pointed out unpredictable market and high technology costs for the issues

Koo founders also expressed the intention of selling some of the assets of the company. The note from the founders stated, “We will be happy to share some of these assets with someone with a great vision for India's foray into social media.”
Koo was standing against Twitter from the launch and gained a lot of traffic and users as it was an Indian app, and people feared Twitter would get shut down after Elon Musk took it over. The note said, “We built a globally scalable product in a fraction of the time that X/Twitter did, with superior systems, algorithms, and strong stakeholder-first philosophies.”

"Our team stuck around with us through thick and thin all along the way. We are very fortunate to have worked with such a passionate bunch of folks who believed in the purpose of our company."

And with this in the note, the founders also indicated that they’ll make a comeback and stated, “As for us, we are entrepreneurs at heart and you will see us back in the arena one way or another. Till then, thank you for your time, attention, good wishes, and love. The little yellow bird says its final goodbye…”

In the farewell note, they expressed their thanks and gratitude to the supporters, team, investors, creators, and all of the users. But even after the setback,  they are optimistic about future ventures.