THE HOMEGROWN MICROBLOGGING APP – KOO RAISES $30 MILLION LED BY TIGER GLOBAL, ON ITS WAY TO MAKE INDIAN SOCIAL MEDIA ATMANIRBHAR!

Just when the deadline of compliance of the new significant social media intermediary (SSMI) rules required by the IT Ministry of the Government of India has come to an end, the social media giants such as Facebook, Google, Twitter, haven’t complied with this requirement yet. 

A stern response from the Indian Government regarding the compliance of the rules has made giants such as Facebook, Whatsapp and Google share the required details to the IT Ministry, however Twitter remains non-compliant. Koo was launched in March, 2020, and won the government initiated Atmanirbhar App Innovation Challenge in August, 2020. 

The Bangalore-based startup is an Indian origin and developed microblogging application, homogenous to Twitter, developed by entrepreneurs and app developers Aprameya Radhakrishna and Mayank Bidwatka. Describing itself as the ‘Voice of India, in Indian Languages’, the application is available in Hindi, English, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Bangla, and Gujrati, with Malayalam, Oriya, Assamese and Punjabi yet to be launched. With a growing user base of 6 million already, the startup qualifies as a SSMI, and has already complied with the requirements under the rules issued by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeITY). Koo has updated its Privacy policy, terms of use and community guidelines as per the requirements of the new rules and also enforced a 3-tier grievance redressal mechanism through a resident chief compliance officer, nodal officer, and grievance officer of Indian origin who will conduct a thorough due diligence process in case of any complaints/flagged content. Commenting on this matter, Aprameya Radhakrishna, CEO and Co-founder, Koo said, “As a company which is building an India-first product, user safety and convenience is of utmost importance and we deeply care about it. Complying with the new social media guidelines published by the government of India within time clearly shows why it’s important to have Indian social media players thriving in the country.”  

In a Series B round, Koo has raised $30 Million led by Tiger Global with participation from existing investors Accel Partners, Kalaari Capital, Blume Ventures and Dream Incubator. Onboarding new investors, IIFL and Mirae Assets, Koo’s valuation jumped to $100 Million from $25 million with this round, making a five-fold growth. Aiming to utilize the funds towards strengthening their engineering, product development, and expansion of Indian languages on the app. Aiming to reach a user base of 100 million over the next two years, the startup plans to tap global markets and monetize the platform after realising that milestone. In 2021, Tiger Global has been investing in Indian startups expeditiously, leading Cred, Infraa.Market, Groww, ShareChat, Innovaccer, and GupShup to become unicorns. 

Access the alternative to Twitter, with an Indian touch through their website or app which is available on Play Store and iOS. With a character limit of 400, the app allows a login through a mobile number or through various social media handles such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube or LinkedIn and create posts (audio or video) largely relying on the hashtags for wider reach. The app allows users to access engaging content in various Indian languages and is one of the most upcoming Indian Social Media Platforms.