प्रेस रिलीज़-
Koo for Atma Nirbharta, the rise of Indigenous micro-blogging App
Koo, the winner of the government’s Atma Nirbhar Bharat app challenge from 2020, is a new Indian alternative to Twitter.
This Atmanirbhar app which promises to provide a Twitter like experience, is one of its kind that functions in multiple Indian languages. It is available as an app on both iOS and Android, and also has a webpage.
Union minister Piyush Goyal, who has an official handle on Twitter, announced that he has opened an account on Koo. Many other ministers and official ministries have also moved to the platform, namely, Electronics and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad who already has a verified handle followed by government departments like Niti Ayog, IT (the ministry of Electronics and IT), India Post, MyGov, and media organisations such as PBNS, etc.
What is Koo?
Launched in March last year, Koo is a Twitter-like app, developed by Aparameya Radhakrishna and Mayank Bidawatka. The app is available in several languages, including Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali, Tamil, Malayalam, Gujarati, Marathi, Punjabi, Odiya and Assamese.
Koo is for Atma Nirbhar Bharat
The download description of Koo on Google Playstore, describes it as an app “built for Indians to share their views in their mother tongue and have meaningful discussions” with a tagline that says – “connect with Indians in Indian languages”.
It is largely a personal update and opinion sharing micro-blogging platform where discussions are around topics of interest while it also empowers people to express their thoughts in Indian languages with a strong-knit local Indian community.
All that can be done on Twitter is enabled on Koo from sharing opinions, updates to following celebrities’ handles and everything that is trending.
Koo’s Investors and Fundings
Accel Partners, Kalaari Capital, Blume Ventures and Dream Incubator are its existing investors while the app achieved a major landmark this month as it raised about ₹30 crore from a clutch of investors, including an entity backed by former Infosys CEO Mohandas Pai.
Where to Download Koo?
The app can be downloaded from Google play store and iOS app store. It can also be accessed from the web app too. The users only need a valid phone number on which Koo sends an OTP for first-time registration.
Why are we talking about Koo?
The app gained spotlight after Union Minister Piyush Goyal tweeted about joining this homegrown microblogging platform amidst the ongoing disagreement between the Indian government and Twitter.
The Centre on January 31 asked Twitter to block 257 URLs and one hashtag as it suspected they were spreading misinformation about farmers’ protest. Twitter then blocked them a day after only to unblock them a few hours later.
The Centre then issued another order asking for compliance failing which penal action will be taken, the Centre had stated.
Meanwhile, this indigenous app continues to hike popularity while also supporting the country’s Atma Nirbhar Bharat vision.