India's microblogging platform Koo bids goodbye amid reign of X under Elon Musk
Screengrab of Koo logo alongside Elon Musk's X account
Koo, the Indian microblogging platform launched to rival X (formerly Twitter), is officially shutting down. The social media network rose topopularity in 2021 when the Indian government clashed with X over content removal. Several ministers of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government as well as government departments migrated to Koo as primary microblogging platform.
In a recent LinkedIn post, Koo's co-founder Mayank Bidawatka said that despite exploring partnerships with various large internet companies, conglomerates, and media houses, the negotiations did not yield the desired results.
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"A couple of them changed priority almost close to signing," Bidawatka stated.
The announcement follows a report by The Morning Context, which claimed that a potential deal between Koo and DailyHunt had collapsed.
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While Koo expanded its presence in Brazil, amassing over 1 million downloads within 48 hours of its launch there, it struggled to maintain traction in the Indian market amid X's belligerent presence under its new owner Elon Musk.
Koo's interface, similar to that of X, allowed users to categorise posts with hashtags and tag other users in mentions or replies.
The platform frequently introduced new features like "Talk to Type" and supported several Indian languages, including Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, Assamese, and Punjabi.
Prominent Indian figures, such as politicians Piyush Goyal and Ravi Shankar Prasad, author Amish Tripathi, and cricketers Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath, were among the first to join Koo. The platform also attracted Brazilian celebrities like Babu Santana, Claudia Leitte, and author Rosana Hermann.
In 2022, the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Export Promotion Department of the Government of Uttar Pradesh signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Koo to promote the "One District, One Product" initiative. Additionally, Koo collaborated with the Indian government on several projects.
Despite its initial success and securing $60 million in funding from notable investors like Tiger Global and Accel, Koo's journey has come to an end.
(With inputs from agencies)