Homegrown micro-blogging platform Koo last week became the only fourth startup in 2024 to enter the dead pool club, which has seen a massive 99.8 per cent decline this year so far.

Investors say the recent wave of startup shutdowns — exacerbated by the so-called funding winter — was a “necessary cleanup”, with founders now focusing on improving operational metrics. However, the startup world may not be completely out of the woods yet, as ‘zombie’ startups have emerged as a new threat, they said.

Koo shut down operations last week after acquisition talks failed. Other notable startups that have