Koo, the Indian alternative to X, is looking for fresh funding or a strategic partnership to grow its user base and revenue amid a slowdown in the investor market. The company’s co-founder Mayank Bidawatka announced this in a LinkedIn post on Friday, saying that the next phase for Koo is to build scale and that will happen with either funding or through a strategic partnership.
Bidawatka wrote that the company had to switch gears from a growth trajectory to a revenue generating engine earlier this year due to the funding slowdown. He indicated that the company is in talks with potential partners who have the distribution strength to give Koo a massive user impetus and help it grow.
Koo, which was launched in 2020, gained popularity after several Indian ministers, celebrities and government agencies joined the platform following a spat between X and the Indian government over content regulation. Koo claims to have over 15 million users and supports multiple Indian languages.
However, according to media reports, the site has seen a drop in users and engagement in recent months. Koo also faced criticism over its privacy policy, data leak allegations and Chinese investment.
Koo is the only Indian company to feature in the TIME Magazine’s top 100 ‘World’s Best Companies 2023’ list, ranked at 64th spot. The list is based on a formula of revenue growth, employee-satisfaction surveys, and rigorous environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) data.
Koo competes with other homegrown social media platforms such as ShareChat, Moj, Chingari and Roposo, which have also seen a surge in users after the Indian government banned several Chinese apps last year.