Indian social media app Koo, once considered a rival to X, formerly Twitter, is closing down its operations, as its founder, Aprameya Radhakrishna, announced on his post from LinkedIn. The development comes after multiple rounds of negotiation for sale and merger potentialities failed; DailyHunt was part of the list, according to the Economic Times. In a joint statement along with the other co-founder, Mayank Bidawatka, Radhakrishna said, “World-class products, especially in categories like social media, AI, space and electric vehicles all require patient long term capital to be built out of India.” These are capital-intensive and time-consuming industries, particularly when there is competition from global giants, according to Radhakrishna. Founders hare on the need for strategic support rather than riding on market ups and downs for scaling up innovative companies to ensure their long-term viability. “When one of these companies takes off, it can’t be left to the whims of the capital market, which goes up and down. It needs a strategic outlook to safeguard it and make it thrive. These aren’t to be looked at as profit-churning machines within two years from launch. They need to be nurtured for a larger long-term play. We would love to see that long-term view for large bets from India,” explained Radhakrishna. Koo—last valued at $275 million—had raised over $66 million to date from a clutch of investors, including 3one4 Capital and Accel. Its founder Radhakrishna sold his previous venture, TaxiForSure, to Ola in 2015.
