Koo, a competitor of Twitter Inc. in India, has let off about a third of its workforce in recent months as the company struggles with losses and an inability to acquire cash. The three-year-old microblogging app laid off 30% of its 260 employees because “global sentiment right now is more focused on efficiency than growth and businesses need to work toward proving unit economics,” according to a spokesperson for the company, which is backed by Tiger Global, in response to questions from Bloomberg News.
Originally, the Bengaluru-based startup benefited from Twitter’s spat with Indian authorities over material on its platform, as many residents, including government officials, cricket stars, and Bollywood celebrities, rushed to Koo as a local alternative. Yet, the present liquidity crunch comes amid a worldwide collapse for technology businesses and sluggish investment activity, which has cut billions off the values of once-flying startups.
Koo is “fully financed,” with more than 60 million downloads, and the firm is attempting to become profitable via monetization initiatives, according to co-founder Mayank Bidawatka in an interview. He also said that it presently has one of the highest incomes per user among other social media firms. According to Tracxn, the business received funding valued at $273 million last year from investors including Accel and Kalaari Capital. According to the spokesman, the business has helped the fired workers by providing compensation packages, extended health coverage, and assistance in finding new positions.
