Koo co-founder Mayank Bidawatka shuts down second startup PicSee, to return capital to investors
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Koo co-founder Mayank Bidawatka has decided to shut down his latest startup, PicSee, less than a year after launching it, and will return the remaining capital to investors instead of pursuing another pivot. According to a Moneycontrol report, Bidawatka informed investors that the company could not find a strong enough opportunity to continue building. Rather than spending the remaining funds on uncertain experiments, the startup has chosen to wind up operations and return the unused capital. PicSee, an AI-powered photo-sharing app, was launched in October last year by Bidawatka and former Koo executive Sarthak Gupta under their venture studio, Billion Hearts. The startup had raised $4 million in seed funding from investors including General Catalyst, Blume Ventures, Peak XV Partners' Surge, Kae Capital, and several angel investors. Entrackr has reached out to Bidawatka for more information. The app was designed to solve a common problem in group events by using AI to help users find photos of themselves from large collections of images. However, the founders reportedly felt the product had not reached the level of conviction needed to build a large and sustainable business. Returning capital to investors is relatively uncommon in the startup ecosystem, where founders often continue to pivot or deploy the remaining runway in search of a new growth opportunity. In PicSee's case, the founders chose to preserve the remaining cash rather than continue spending without a clear direction. The development is another startup closure for Bidawatka after Koo, the Indian microblogging platform he co-founded, shut down last year following unsuccessful acquisition talks and mounting financial challenges While the exact amount being returned to investors has not been disclosed. Neither Bidawatka nor PicSee has publicly shared further details on the shutdown or their future plans as of now.
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