Indian social media app Koo, once considered a rival to micro-blogging platform X, is shutting down, according to founder Aprameya Radhakrishna in a LinkedIn post on Wednesday. The closure follows unsuccessful merger negotiations with several companies, including Dailyhunt, sources revealed.

“Patient, long-term capital is essential to build ambitious, world-beating products from India, be it in social media, AI, space, EV, or other futuristic categories,” Radhakrishna stated in a joint post with cofounder Mayank Bidawatka. “It will need a lot more capital when the space has a global giant already.” Koo, backed by Accel and Tiger Global, faced significant challenges in securing new funding.

Radhakrishna emphasized the necessity of a strategic outlook, saying, “These aren’t to be looked at as profit-churning machines in two years from launch. They need to be nurtured for a larger long-term play. We would love to see that long-term view for large bets from India.”

Koo was last valued at $274 million after raising over $66 million from investors, including 3one4 Capital. The app struggled to raise new capital since last year, leading to unsuccessful merger talks. Sources mentioned that the company still holds some digital assets, like cloud credits, which may be sold to potential buyers.

“They were under a lot of pressure from the board and investors too. The company fired the majority of staff and even cut down on burn, but eventually, nothing worked out,” a source disclosed. Radhakrishna acknowledged the efforts to form partnerships with larger internet companies, conglomerates, and media houses, but these did not yield the desired outcomes.

The prolonged funding winter “got the better of us,” the founders stated. “We needed five to six years of aggressive, long-term, and patient capital to make this dream a reality.” Koo’s struggle underscores the challenges local social media platforms face when competing with global rivals.

Another local social media app, ShareChat, has also scaled down operations significantly, undergoing severe restructuring and large-scale layoffs. In 2022, its valuation dropped by over 60% to below $2 billion from a peak of $5 billion.

“Koo used to have a 10% like ratio, almost 7-10x the ratio Twitter had, making Koo a more favorable platform for creators. At our peak, we had about 2.1 million daily active users and 10 million monthly active users, with over 9,000 VIPs,” the founders said. Koo had expanded into Brazil last year.

“The little yellow bird says its final goodbye,” the post concluded.