Koo co-founder Mayank Bidawatka to launch Billion Hearts Software to create digital products for global users

Mayank Bidawatka, the co-founder of the social media platform Koo, is planning to launch a new enterprise called Billion Hearts Software Technologies.

“Billion Hearts as a name represents the dreams of many. And hopefully the usage of billions of users around the world for whom this startup will build beautiful digital products,” Mayank Bidawatka informed in a post on LinkedIn on Tuesday.

Bidawatka said the startup will be launched in a few months. According to the Billion Hearts Software website, the new enterprise will build consumer products for global users.

In an earlier LinkedIn post, Bidawatka said, “I had spoken about starting up. We are now a team of 15, building what we set out to build. Also have angel funding from some close and stellar founder friends who've built marquee consumer tech startups in India. And busy talking to some known VCs for seed.”

Journey of Koo

Bidawatka's previous venture, Koo, was an Indian social media platform and microblogging site often termed Indian Twitter. It was co-founded by Aprameya Radhakrishna and Mayank Bidawatka in 2020.

The app was shut down in July 2023 on reports of unsuccessful negotiations for a possible sale or merger with several companies, including DailyHunt. Co-founder Aprameya Radhakrishna announced the shutting down of Koo in a LinkedIn post on July 3.

“Here's the final update from our end. Our partnership talks fell through and we will be discontinuing our service to the public. We explored partnerships with multiple larger internet companies, conglomerates and media houses but these talks didn't yield the outcome we wanted,” Radhakrishna wrote.

“A prolonged funding winter which hit us at our peak hurt our plans at the time and we had to tone down on our growth trajectory…..Unfortunately for us, the mood of the market and the funding winter got the better of us. Timing the market is an underestimated variable. It can define and discount everything at times. Koo could have easily scaled internationally and given India a global brand that was truly made in India. This dream will remain,” he added.