How Tiger Global-Backed Koo Lost Its Mojo & Shut Shop After Raising $50 Mn

It was the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021 and the world appeared to be homegrown microblogging platform Koo’s...

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Koo reported a net loss of INR 244 Cr between FY20 and FY22, while it could only mint a revenue of INR 21 Lakh during the same period The biggest problem that led to Koo’s demise was its dwindling user numbers and failure to raise funds as investors tightened their purse strings amid a raging funding winter As troubles piled on, reports surfaced that Dailyhunt and Josh parent VerSe were in talks to acquire the microblogging platform but that too failed, paving the way for Koo’s shutdown It was the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021 and the world appeared to be homegrown microblogging platform Koo’s oyster. Founded a year earlier by TaxiForSure cofounder Aprameya Radhakrishna and Mayank Bidawatka, Koo had a great run in 2021. Be its sharp logo featuring a yellow bird (strikingly similar to erstwhile Twitter’s blue motif) or the vernacular pitch, Koo left no stone unturned to woo Indian users amid the growth of social media platforms due to the nationwide lockdown.

In the words of the two cofounders themselves, they believed that India should have a place at the table dominated by Americans. But, the real traction came when the then IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, in early 2021, praised the desi microblogging platform. What followed were the investors lining up to invest in the company amid the funding boom and pandemic-induced growth.



By June 2022, Koo had raised more than $50 Mn and its valuation had reached the peak of $285 Mn. On the operational front, the app h.