‘Little yellow bird says final goodbye’: India’s Twitter rival Koo shuts down

Koo, the Indian social media platform that aimed to rival Twitter, is shutting down. Founders Aprameya Radhakrishna and Mayank Bidawatka announced the decision, citing failed partnership talks and high technology costs. The company started laying off a significant part of the workforce in April 2023. 

At its peak, Koo had around 2.1 million daily active users and 10 million monthly users, including over 9000 VIPs. Despite their success, financial challenges and a prolonged funding winter forced them to scale down. The founders highlighted the unpredictable capital market and high technology costs as major issues.

The founders also expressed their intentions to sell 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."

The platform drew direct comparisons with Twitter from the launch and it gained traction after Elon Musk took over the micro-blogging site. "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," the note said. 

In their farewell message, they expressed gratitude to supporters, team, investors, creators, and users. They remain optimistic about future ventures. Despite its shutdown, the founders hope for an inclusive platform in the future. 

"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."

The founders hinted at their comeback as entrepreneurs. "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..."