Koo (social network)
Koo is an Indian microblogging and social networking service, based in Bengaluru, India. As of May 2021, it is valued at over $100 million dollars. The microblogging site was co-founded by entrepreneurs Aprameya Radhakrishna and Mayank Bidawatka. Radhakrishna had founded online cab booking service TaxiForSure, which was subsequently sold to Ola Cabs. While the app was launched in early 2020, its participation and the subsequent winning of the government's Atmanirbhar App Innovation Challenge. Prior to Koo, its parent company — Bombinate Technologies Pvt Ltd — launched and is operating the Indian version of Quora called Vokal . According to data sourced from Crunchbase, the company raised Series A funding in 2018 from a clutch of investors including Blume Ventures, Kalaari Capital and Accel Partners India. In the latest round of funding announced earlier this month, former Infosys CFO TV Mohandas Pai's 3one4 Capital also joined the list of those investing in Bombinate Technologies. History. Initial growth. According to statistics provided by analytics provider Sensor Tower, the Koo saw 26 lakh (2.6 million) installs from Indian app stores in 2020, compared to 2.8 crores (28 million) installs observed for Twitter. From February 6 to February 11, the  installations of Koo increased rapidly. The app increased in popularity after a weeklong standoff between Twitter and the Government of India over Twitter's refusal to block accounts the Government had flagged for spreading disinformation during the 2020–21 Indian farmers' protest. Following this standoff, many Cabinet Ministers such as Piyush Goyal and various government officials moved to Koo, which saw a surge in user base. In April 2021, Ravi Shankar Prasad became the first minister with 25 lakh followers on Koo. Koo was the go-to alternative to Twitter in Nigeria after the country indefinitely banned Twitter for deleting a  tweet by Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari. The Government of Nigeria created their official account on 10 June 2021. Funding. As of May 2021, Koo investors include Accel Partners, Kalaari Capital, Blume Ventures, Dream Incubator, 3one4 Capital, Blume Ventures, IIFL, and Mirae Assets. On 26 May 2021, Koo raised $30 million (about ₹218 crore) in Series B funding, led by Tiger Global. After raising $30 million from Tiger Global, Koo's valuation increased, reaching over $100 million, up from about $25 million in February. Shunwei Capital sold its whole stake in Koo by March 2021. Security  incidents. In February 2021, a cybersecurity expert showed a data breach on the app, but the company rejected the claim. Interface and features. Logo. Koo's logo is a yellow bird. The design of the bird was streamlined on 14 May 2021. User experience. Koo's interface is similar to that of Twitter, allowing users to categorize their posts with hashtags and tag other users in mentions or replies. Koo uses a yellow and white interface. On 4 May 2021, Koo introduced a new feature called "Talk to Type" which allows its users to create a post with the app 's voice assistant. Koo marks verified accounts with a yellow-coloured tick. Since August 2021, the app supports Dark theme. Languages. Koo was first launched in Kannada and supports Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu, Assamese, Marathi, Bangla, Gujarati.