KOO HALTS SALARY PAYMENTS FROM APRIL
Microblogging startup Koo is halting salary payments to employees from April -- the outcome of a delay in its search for a partner that can acquire the company.
Koo was looking to raise funds or tie up with a strategic partner to scale operations, in a funding environment that has turned extremely tough for startups, cofounder Mayank Bidawatka had first said in September 2023.
But the talks have taken longer than expected amid a funding winter. Bidawakta said in a LinkedIn post on Thursday that the firm has done everything to extend its runway so that employees and vendors could get paid.
“Koo remains operational. It’s very well built and a fully automated product that needs little manual intervention to function. There’s a proud team that stands behind it, irrespective of where they are today,” he said.
Also in September 2023, a report from The Arc had said Koo was valued at Rs 2,230 crore in its last funding round in June 2022. Citing sources, it added that the company was then left with a cash balance of just about Rs 20 crore in the bank.
A company spokesperson declined to comment on ET’s queries on the matter.
Bidawakta said that the founders – TaxiForSure founder Aprameya Radhakrishna and himself – had put in a “substantial amount” from their personal funds so that salaries for March could be paid to employees.
Earlier in this year, in February, Koo was in talks for a potential acquisition by VerSe Innovation, the parent firm of news aggregator Dailyhunt and short video platform Josh.
The company also carried out salary cuts earlier. “This way everyone could sustain without having to look for a job at a time when the hiring across startups is at its all-time low. The delay in the partnership hurts everyone without an exception but it’s a process that’s taken its own time,” Bidawakta said.
Future salaries will only be paid once a partnership is concluded, he added. The development was first reported by news website Inc42.
Koo was once touted as an Indian competitor to microblogging site X (erstwhile Twitter), and was in focus when a number of Indian ministers moved to using the platform amid a spat with X during the farmers’ protest in early 2021. The two apps had a number of similarities in user interface.
Over the past year, Koo has struggled amid a wider funding winter, firing 30% of its 260-strong workforce as of April last year. Bidawatka had said in September that the company was looking for fundraising opportunities or tie-ups with a strategic partner that would help it scale up its operations.
The company has so far raised over $65 million from investors like Tiger Global Management, Accel India, 3one4 Capital, Mirae Asset and Blume Ventures.