BENGALURU
:
AppsForBharat, which runs online devotional app Sri Mandir, has raised ₹175 crore in a Series C funding round led by Susquehanna Asia Venture Capital with participation from existing investors Nandan Nilekani’s Fundamentum, Elevation Capital, and Peak XV Partners.
The primary funding round values the Bengaluru-based startup at $175 million, almost doubling since September 2024, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. The firm had bagged $18 million from Fundamentum and other investors in September. AppsForBharat declined to comment on the valuation.
The company crossed a revenue rate of ₹100 crore in FY25 and facilitated 5.2 million online pujas and offerings at more than 70 temples across India, its founder and chief executive Prashant Sachan told Mint.
The app also has a significant global presence with nearly 20% of the demand coming from the Indian diaspora living in the US, the UK, UAE, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Expansion into temple towns
The firm will invest a part of the funds in over 20 temple towns in India, strengthen services and commerce verticals, establish fulfillment and logistics hubs, and build AI-led features to bolster user engagement, it said in a statement on Monday.
The firm will also ramp up local hiring to run and manage operations of these hubs and fuel employment generation in temple towns. On the devotee side, Sri Mandir is developing AI tools that will help users navigate the app, answer queries, hand-hold users through pujas, rituals and festivals, and recommend personalized spiritual content.
Founded in November 2020 by Sachan, AppsForBharat launched its flagship app—Sri Mandir—with a mission to assist people in India and abroad in their devotional and spiritual journeys.
Faith-tech momentum
Faith-tech startups are gaining momentum in India, with funding into these digital platforms surging from a total $4.3 million in 2023 to $50.7 million in 2024, according to market intelligence platform Tracxn.
“We have grown by 2X in the last 6 months and have been able to create significant value to our temple partners and our devotees. We’ve not only brought ease, convenience and satisfaction to our devotees but more importantly enabled consistent, year-round revenue for priests, local vendors, and service providers in temple towns. These communities have traditionally depended on seasonal footfall. By digitising their services, we’re helping uplift livelihoods and bring stability to an otherwise informal and fragmented ecosystem,” Sachan said.
The appeal of these platforms lies in their ability to meet the rising demand for spirituality and alternative wellness among Gen Z (born between 1997 and 2012) and millennial (1981-1996) consumers.
Roughly 30% of AppsForBharat’s users are from the merchant community, in the age bracket of 25 to 35, Mint reported last year.
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