Home Business India’s X Alternative, Koo, Shuts Down Due to Funding Shortages
BusinessNews

India’s X Alternative, Koo, Shuts Down Due to Funding Shortages

639

Koo, India’s local alternative to X (formerly Twitter), has announced its shutdown, leaving millions of users stranded. Launched in 2020, Koo offered a multilingual platform supporting over 10 Indian languages and gained prominence in 2021 amid a dispute between the Indian government and X.

The conflict began when Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration asked X to block accounts accused of spreading misinformation. X initially complied but later restored the accounts. This led to threats of legal action against its employees in India. The situation drove many government supporters and officials to migrate to Koo, boosting its downloads to 20 million by the end of 2021.

Despite this initial success, Koo struggled to secure sufficient funding. Founders Aprameya Radhakrishna and Mayank Bidawatka cited a prolonged funding crisis and high technology costs as primary reasons for the shutdown. Efforts to form partnerships with larger companies and media houses failed. Acquisition talks with news aggregator Dailyhunt did not also materialise.

In April 2023, Koo laid off 30% of its workforce due to financial losses. The founders expressed regret over the closure but explained that the costs of keeping the platform operational were unsustainable.

Read more: India: 87 People Confirmed Dead In Stampede At Religious Event

EU Imposes Heavy Tariffs on Chinese Electric Vehicles To ‘Level Competition’

About The Author

Related Articles

News

CNPC Defies Niger Junta, Continues Oil Exports Amid Dispute

China’s state-owned oil giant CNPC has continued crude oil exports from Niger...

Human RightsNewsWorld

U.S. Senate Bill Seeks to Sanction Nigerian Officials Over Blasphemy Laws

A new bill pending in the United States Senate is seeking to...

NewsSports

How Nigeria Snatched World Cup Playoff Spot Despite Fewer Raw Points

The Super Eagles’ qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup playoffs sent...

NewsSports

Traoré Demands Answers After Burkina Faso Miss Out on Playoff Spot to Nigeria

Burkina Faso President, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, has publicly sought explanations following his...