Koo is a completely Made in India app with Indian investors, say founders
The homegrown microblogging app Koo announced that one of its Chinese investors - Shunwei Capital is exiting. The investment firm had invested in the company's earlier brand - Vokal.
Aprameya Radhakrishna, Co-founder of — the homegrown microblogging platform, has announced that its Chinese investor, , is exiting the company. The investment firm had invested in the company's earlier brand - Vokal. A statement shared by the company said,
"The recent investment of $4.1 million in Bombinate Technologies – Koo’s parent company — was led by 3one4 Capital, an Indian investor. Shunwei had not participated in the latest round of funding. Shunwei, that had invested in the company for the earlier product Vokal which answers user questions in Indian languages, will be exiting fully with the new investors buying their stake. Existing investors including 3one4 Capital, Kalaari and others will also be buying out some of the stake. Koo is a fully Aatmanirbhar app with Indian founders and India registration."
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It added that a clutch of Indian entrepreneurs like Ashish Hemrajani, Co-founder and CEO; Vivekananda HR, Co-founder and CEO, ; and Nikhil Kamath, Co-founder and CEO, have invested in the company and are entering the cap table of the company. "It is a clear indication that the company is getting more and more Indian money into the company," said the statement.
The funding of $4.1 million will be used to ramp up capabilities to solve uniquely Indian engineering challenges, and for marketing to increase awareness about the app.
Billed as India's alternative to Twitter, the Koo app won second place in the Aatmanirbhar App Challenge announced by the Indian government. It was also named Google PlayStore’s Best Daily Essential App for 2020, and got a special mention by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Mann Ki Baat address.
The app currently has over one million downloads on Google Play Store. In a tweet, Aprameya also said that 95 percent of Koo's users login through their mobile phones.
Edited by Kanishk Singh