Exclusive: Koo raises over $6 Mn led by Tiger Global

Twitter’s Indian rival social media app Koo has raised Rs 51.08 crore or $6.3 million in a new round co-led by Tiger Global and Accel Partners with the participation of Kalaari Capital, 3one4 Capital, and Dream Incubator (DI), a Tokyo-based PE firm. This is the second funding round of the Bengaluru-based company in 2022.

The board at Koo has passed a special resolution to issue 5,423 Series B4 compulsory convertible preference shares (CCPS) at an issue price of Rs 94,193.26 per share to raise Rs 51.08 crore or $6.3 million, the company’s regulatory filing with the Registrar of Companies (RoC) shows. The purpose of the offer of Series B4 CCPS is to raise funds for the growth, expansion, marketing, and general corporate activities of the company.

Tiger Global and Accel Partners have co-led the funding round with Rs 16.47 crore each. Kalaari Capital and 3one4 Capital poured in Rs 8.24 crore each followed by Dream Incubator which infused Rs 1.65 crore.

As per Fintrackr’s estimates, the company has been valued at around Rs 2,230 crore or $275 million (post-allotment). Earlier this year, Koo raised $10 million from Capier Venture Partner, Ravi Modi Family Trust, Ashneer Grover, and others.

Founded in 2020, Koo is a multi-lingual microblogging platform that allows users to interact via text, audio, and videos. It also allows influencers to connect with their community and have conversations with their fans. Koo is currently available in 11 languages and claims to have over 50 million app downloads.

The platform was recently launched in Brazil, marking its entry in the overseas market.

While Koo is yet to disclose its financial numbers for FY22, it remained in a pre-revenue stage till FY20 and reported Rs 7.76 lakh revenue from operations in FY21. As per the annual financial statements with the RoC, the company’s losses spiked nearly 3X to Rs 35.18 crore in FY21 as compared to Rs 12.17 crore during FY20.

In June, Koo acquired Nexus-backed Mitron TV in a share swap agreement. Entrackr had exclusively reported about the development. The company also laid off 5% of its workforce during the layoffs season.