Indian 'Twitter' Koo's Chinese Investor Sells Entire Stake Amid Backlash

In February, Twitter argued against blocking over 2,000 accounts listed by the Indian government for allegedly spreading provocative sentiments and misinformation about the ongoing protests by farmers. Twitter's reluctance to abide by the Indian government's request led to a surge in popularity of an Indian-made micro-blogging app called Koo.

Koo, which advertises itself as a "Made in India" app, has been drawing major criticism on social media for having a Chinese investor, Shunwei Capital, on board. The Chinese company has now sold its entire stake in Koo, the Indian media reported.

Shunwei Capital held slightly over nine percent in Koo's parent company Bombinate Technologies. The Chinese firm had actually invested in Koo's earlier branding called "Vokal" and now its shares have been bought out by Koo's other investors.

"As earlier stated, we had been in discussion with Shunwei Capital to enable a smooth exit after it invested in our company 2.5 years ago while we were raising funds for Vokal and has now fully exited the parent company Bombinate Technologies", Aprameya Radhakrishna, CEO and Co-founder of Koo, was quoted as saying.

Along with Koo's existing non-Chinese investors, some well-known Indian entrepreneurs like former Indian cricketer Javagal Srinath, BookMyShow Founder Ashish Hemrajani and Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy among others have also invested in buying out Shunwei Capital's shares from the app.

Some netizens in India are cheering on Koo for getting rid of its Chinese investor, and going more "desi" (indigenous), keeping in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of making India more self-reliant and less dependent on foreigners.

Great to see #Koo "cleansing" itself & going more desi! 😉
Kudos @aprameya & team.https://t.co/iNul0egs4R

— Anuraag Saxena (@anuraag_saxena) March 17, 2021

Koo’s Chinese investor sells entire stake
ATMANIRBHAR BHARAT ABHIYAN!
MADE IN INDIA!
JAI SWADESHI! @ashwani_mahajan@jeetkml @chandpc123 @aloksinghor @https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/chinese-investor-shunwei-leaves-koo/articleshow/81554716.cms

— Vijay kapoor (@Vijayka01192514) March 18, 2021

​Since last year, Indians have been riding on anti-China sentiments amid speculations suggesting the novel coronavirus originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan. These sentiments were further exacerbated by a border standoff in Ladakh where Chinese and Indian troops engaged in a deadly clash after accusing each other of trespassing the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

In light of the escalation, India banned over 200 Chinese apps from operating in the country, citing national security concerns. PM Modi has long been urging Indian developers to create apps for the country's market that are domestically-made and "safer" for nationals.

Koo, which was launched in 2020, has received much government support: Indian IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Minister of State for Ports and Shipping Mansukh Mandavia have been on Koo since August of last year.

In February, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Madhya Pradesh state chief Shivraj Singh Chouhan joined Koo. In addition, the IT Ministry and Railways Ministry have also made their debut on the Indian micro-blogging platform.

India-made alternative apps for WhatsApp and Google Maps are also under development or being tested in the country.