Latest news with #PrashantSachan
Entrepreneur
2 days ago
- Business
- Entrepreneur
AppsForBharat Raises USD 20 Mn in Series C Round to Scale Sri Mandir Devotional Platform
The newly raised capital will be deployed to strengthen and scale temple partnerships in over 20 temple towns across India, including Varanasi, Ayodhya, Ujjain, and Haridwar. You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media. AppsForBharat, the parent company of leading faith-tech platform Sri Mandir, has raised INR 175 crore (approximately USD 20 million) in a Series C funding round led by Susquehanna Asia Venture Capital. Existing investors: Fundamentum (co-founded by Nandan Nilekani), Elevation Capital, and Peak XV Partners, also participated in the round. The newly raised capital will be deployed to strengthen and scale temple partnerships in over 20 temple towns across India, including Varanasi, Ayodhya, Ujjain, and Haridwar. The Bengaluru-based company also plans to expand its services and commerce verticals, set up logistics and fulfillment hubs for prasad and ritual item deliveries, and enhance user experience with AI-powered features. "With this fundraise, we are entering the next phase of growth—scaling temple partnerships, improving digital infrastructure for temples, and building AI capabilities to serve our users better," said Prashant Sachan, Founder and CEO of AppsForBharat. "We've grown 2X in the last six months and are bringing consistent, year-round income to priests and local vendors in temple towns by digitising devotional services." Founded in November 2020 by IIT Bombay alumnus and serial entrepreneur Prashant Sachan, AppsForBharat has quickly emerged as a category leader in the faith-tech space. Its flagship app, Sri Mandir, has seen over 4 crore downloads, enabling devotees to participate in online pujas, send offerings (chadhava), receive prasad, and consume devotional content—all from their homes. In the past year alone, Sri Mandir has facilitated 52 lakh online pujas and chadhavas across more than 70 temples in India. The app also claims to have a strong global footprint, with nearly 20% of its demand coming from the Indian diaspora in countries like the US, UK, UAE, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. At events like the Mahakumbh Mela 2025, Sri Mandir acted as the exclusive digital partner for Vedashram Trust, serving over 3 lakh devotees with hybrid devotional experiences and personalized pujas. It has also helped smaller temples in regions like Uttarakhand and Tirunelveli increase engagement and income, with digital puja bookings driving 25–30% additional revenue. "Sri Mandir has evolved from a service marketplace to a comprehensive spiritual platform," said Sai Araveti, Investment Advisor to Susquehanna Asia VC. "We're excited to support their mission to blend tradition with technology." With this round, AppsForBharat's total funding crosses USD 50 million, positioning it as a transformative player in India's spiritual and digital landscape.
Mint
2 days ago
- Business
- Mint
AppsForBharat raises ₹175 crore in funding round led by Susquehanna Asia Venture
Gift this article 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. 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. 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. 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. Roughly 30% of AppsForBharat's users are from the merchant community, in the age bracket of 25 to 35, Mint reported last year. Topics You May Be Interested In
Economic Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Economic Times
AppsForBharat raises $20 million in round led by Susquehanna Asia Venture Capital
AppsForBharat, the parent company of devotional platform Sri Mandir, has raised $20 million in a funding round led by Susquehanna Asia Venture Capital. The round also saw participation from other existing investors Nandan Nilekani's Fundamentum, Elevation Capital and Peak XV Partners. The funds will be used to invest in over 20 temple towns in India, strengthen services and commerce verticals, and set up fulfilment and logistics hubs. 'On the devotee side, we are further investing in the product to help it grow in multiple languages. We are also investing heavily in AI-led experiences, where users will be assisted in their devotional journeys and more,' founder and chief executive Prashant Sachan told ET in an interaction. Founded in November 2020 by IIT Bombay alumni Prashant Sachan, Sri Mandir offers a virtual platform where devotees can perform pujas, connect with prayer groups, and access devotional content, including spiritual texts, scriptures, and videos. In the last 12 months, 12 lakh devotees have performed 52 lakh online pujas and offerings at over 70 temples across India. The startup plans to set up 20 logistics hubs by the end of this year. It currently operates warehouses in eight towns.'The question for us is whether we can invest in physical infrastructure in or near that temple town, which would help us conduct our online services much more efficiently and enable temples to deliver offerings to devotees directly from that location. That is what the investment is all about,' Sachan Bengaluru-based firm had raised $18 million in September last year. Startups in this space have experienced rapid growth, attracting significant investments from venture capital (VC) firms in recent months. They have also been capitalising on various religious events to expand their user base and drive growth. Other key players in this space include DevDham and to Sachan, the company's revenue has doubled over the past six months, without disclosing further details. It now has about three million monthly active users, he said. The startup serves devotees in six international markets, with around 20% of its demand coming from the Indian diaspora residing in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the UAE. Earlier, ET had reported that AppsForBharat plans to expand into regions with large NRI presence like Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa, and the richer neighbourhoods of Europe. This comes at a time when devotional platforms are expanding their reach beyond India, targeting the affluent and culturally connected Indian diaspora to boost both sales and subscriber numbers. On July 7 last year, ET reported that a post-pandemic surge in online engagement and a growing interest in spiritual practices in recent times have revived the fortunes of apps offering spiritual and devotional services. Commenting on the investment, Sai Araveti, investment advisor, Susquehanna Asia VC, 'Sri Mandir has demonstrated exceptional execution in building foundational infrastructure for digital devotional services, while simultaneously enabling temples to serve devotees across geographical boundaries better."
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Business Standard
2 days ago
- Business
- Business Standard
AppsForBharat raises ₹175 crore Series C to scale Sri Mandir platform
AppsForBharat, the parent firm of the devotion platform Sri Mandir, on Monday announced it 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 funds will be used to invest in over 20 temple towns—including Varanasi, Ujjain, Ayodhya, and Haridwar—strengthen services and commerce verticals, establish fulfilment and logistics hubs, and build AI-led features to bolster user engagement. Founded by Prashant Sachan in 2020, the app enables devotees to participate in online pujas, offer goods, receive prasad, and access devotional content. AppsForBharat has over four crore downloads to date. In the last 12 months, nearly 12 lakh devotees have performed 52 lakh online pujas and made offerings at more than 70 temples across India. The app also has a global presence, with nearly 20 per cent of demand coming from the Indian diaspora living in the US, UK, UAE, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Prashant Sachan, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of AppsForBharat, said, 'With this fundraise, we are entering the next phase of growth—scaling temple partnerships, improving digital infrastructure for temples, and building AI capabilities to serve our users better. We have grown by 2x in the last six months and have been able to create significant value for our temple partners and our devotees.' Overall, India is home to over 6.5 lakh temples and contributes an estimated ₹3 lakh crore (nearly 2.3 per cent of GDP) annually through services, commerce, and religious tourism, the company said in a statement. At the Mahakumbh Mela 2025, the app served as the exclusive digital partner of the Vedashram Trust and over three lakh devotees accessed its services, including guided devotional experiences (both online and offline), personalised pujas, and delivery of holy Triveni Sangam Jal to their homes. The company claimed it has improved earnings for temples, with online puja bookings contributing an additional 25–30 per cent, while also driving demand for prasad and other ritual supplies among local vendors.
Time of India
2 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
AppsForBharat raises Rs 175 crore to deepen temple-tech infra
Bengaluru: AppsForBharat, the parent company of the devotional platform Sri Mandir, raised Rs 175 crore led by Susquehanna Asia Venture Capital. Existing investors, including Nandan Nilekani's Fundamentum, Elevation Capital, and Peak XV Partners, also participated. The company said the funds will be used to scale operations across over 20 temple towns, including Ayodhya, Varanasi, and Ujjain. Plans include expanding logistics and fulfilment infrastructure for the delivery of prasad and ritual goods, strengthening the services and commerce stack, and developing AI tools to personalise and simplify user experiences. Sri Mandir, which has over 4 crore downloads, allows users to book pujas and offerings online, stream devotional content, and receive temple prasad at home. In the past year alone, 12 lakh devotees conducted 52 lakh online pujas and chadhavas at 70 temples via the app. Nearly 20% of demand comes from the Indian diaspora in the US, UK, UAE, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. You Can Also Check: Bengaluru AQI | Weather in Bengaluru | Bank Holidays in Bengaluru | Public Holidays in Bengaluru The company said digital engagement helped temples improve both reach and revenues. In temple towns such as Ujjain, Uttarakhand, and Tirunelveli, it reported increased devotee participation and footfall, while online puja bookings contributed an additional 25-30% to temple earnings. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Giao dịch CFD với công nghệ và tốc độ tốt hơn IC Markets Đăng ký Undo At the Mahakumbh Mela 2025, Sri Mandir partnered exclusively with the Vedashram Trust, enabling 3 lakh users to access services digitally. AppsForBharat said it plans to ramp up local hiring in temple towns to operate fulfilment hubs and expand temple partnerships. On the user side, it is developing AI features to support navigation, queries, and ritual guidance. "With this fundraise, we are entering the next phase of growth – scaling temple partnerships, improving digital infrastructure, and building AI capabilities," said Prashant Sachan, founder and CEO. "We've not only improved access and convenience for devotees, but also created consistent income opportunities for priests and vendors who traditionally relied on seasonal footfall." Founded in 2020, AppsForBharat is backed by a team that includes former operators and investors from Flipkart, Matrix Partners, Elevation Capital, and Airblack.
