Koo sees uptick in downloads driven by vernacular content

Homegrown microblogging app Koo has seen over 15 million downloads and is inching towards 20 million. This growth in India is primarily due to the localisation of the content on the platform and ease of use. 

“Our community is getting stronger,” chimes in Aprameya Radhakrishna, CEO and Co-founder, Koo App. A diverse range of topics such as cricket, spirituality, entertainment, journalism, politics, among others, have helped the platform grow. 

Celebrities within these fields have joined the platform to express themselves and are talking in their own language for the first time, says Aprameya.

He adds, “Microblogging is a format where you don’t come and create once in a blue moon, you create every day, you share every thought. I think that is very empowering for the larger audience of India.” 

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Acknowledging that Koo is a social media platform and is exposed to the risks of cyber fraud, the brand recently partnered with Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) to create awareness on cyber security in the month of October, which is the National Cyber Security Awareness month. 

At present, over 50 percent of the users on the app type in Hindi. Aprameya shares that the content on the application is driven largely by the categories of poetry and literature. 

Users on the platform are also writing original poetry and sharing thoughts regularly which is unique to language communities, according to Aprameya. The latest user for the app is veteran actor and poet, Piyush Mishra, who will use the platform to connect with fans and share poems, thoughts, and lyrics in Hindi. 

“We are committed to making local language expression easier as we go forward,” says Aprameya. Koo’s keypad is designed to be easy for vernacular users to use for typing and it also provides the option to upload videos. 

Going forward, the brand will be exploring new video experiences that can be incorporated into the app. It will focus on enriching user experience, onboarding more users, and scaling the microblogging site gradually. 

Aprameya hints about a funding round next year and is also looking to explore multiple revenue options. As per his vision, every user should be able to build their own microworld within Koo.