AppsForBharat, the owner of the devotion platform, Sri Mandir, Tuesday said it has raised $18 million (around Rs 151 crore) in Series B funding, led by mid-stage venture capital firm Fundamentum. The round also saw participation from Susquehanna Asia VC as well as existing investors Elevation Capital, Peak XV, and Mirae Asset VC.
The company plans to use the funds to scale the Sri Mandir app’s India and international operations, onboard new temples, launch new services, and build a comprehensive tech stack for the devotional ecosystem.
Founded in November 2020 by IIT Bombay Alumni, Prashant Sachan, AppsForBharat’s Sri Mandir app currently provides access to more than 50 temples. It enables users to participate in pujas, offer goods (chadhava) as part of the rituals, and access a wealth of devotional content.
“...Over the next five years, we aim to expand our offerings by introducing spiritual tourism, facilitating special darshan tickets, and providing seamless delivery of prasad and related devotional goods,” said Sachan, founder and chief executive officer of AppsForBharat.
AppsForBharat claims that since the launch in 2021, Sri Mandir has garnered over 30 million downloads. It also claims that in the last year, more than 5 lakh devotees have done 27 lakh pujas and offerings at temples across India through the app.
“India’s devotional sector valued at $50 billion presents a massive opportunity for digital transformation. Prashant and team have built a world-class uniquely Indian product...we expect long-term scalability in India and global use cases emerging in the future,” said Ashish Kumar, cofounder and general partner, of Fundamentum.
Kumar is also joining the board of AppsForBharat.
The company is expanding the Sri Mandir app to five new regional languages in the next 12 months as well as looking to grow its temple listing by 10x across India. It also plans to develop a robust spiritual tourism ecosystem. The platform is aiming to deepen its presence in India and scale international operations in key markets such as the US, the UK, and Canada.
