AppsForBharat is the parent company behind the popular Indian devotional platform Sri Mandir; it has closed USD 18 million in a Series B funding round led by Nandan Nilekani-backed Fundamentum. Apart from Fundamentum, Susquehanna Asia VC participated in the funding round along with existing investors Elevation Capital, Peak XV, and Mirae Asset VC. The firm said on 10 September that fresh capital would go toward scaling operations inside and outside India, boarding more temples, launching new services, and building an extended tech stack for the growing devotional ecosystem.
Aggressive Growth Plans for Sri Mandir App
AppsForBharat was founded in 2020 by IIT Bombay alumnus Prashant Sachan and quickly emerged as one of the largest players in the Indian devotional and spiritual market. For AppsForBharat, the flagship platform is Sri Mandir. They allow their users to make several offerings on the lines of booking poojas in temples, accessing huge libraries concerning spiritual texts and videos, or calling astrologers/priests for consultative services. With over 30 million downloads, it is an online religiosity hotbed through which followers are finding their ways with much ease and digitally first.
"Today we have 50 temples on our platform, and we want to 10x that in the next 12-18 months," Sachan said. Also on the drawing board are new services like bespoke spiritual experiences and the introduction of a digital infrastructure that will help upgrade services at temples. And the Sri Mandir app will be supported on five new regional languages, opening it up to more users both in India and around the world.
International Expansion & Digital Transformation
With the new funding, AppsForBharat will expand beyond India to key global markets such as the US, the UK, and Canada. Besides this, the company is further scaling its offerings on the platform with Spiritual Tourism, Special Darshan tickets, and Delivery of prasad and other devotional merchandise.
Ashish Kumar, Co-founder and General Partner at Fundamentum, said the devotional market opportunity alone is more than $50 billion in India. "Our sense is that 15% of this market could go digital in the next 4-5 years, and we believe AppsForBharat will capture a meaningful part of that transformation."
Partnerships and Industry Potential
the participation of Susquehanna Asia VC participated in the funding round along with existing investors Elevation Capital, Peak XV, and Mirae Asset VC.. Kumar further said, "AppsForBharat's approach to bring access and convenience to the devotional sector represents a compelling opportunity, and we're excited to support them in scaling their business."
And With the continuous evolution of the devotional sector in India, the Company gears up to be an end-to-end one-stop platform catering to the spiritual needs of millions. Digitization of the devotional experience can make AppsForBharat a key player in the tech transformation of this huge market.
With capital again fully rejuvenated and with its ambitious expansion plan, AppsForBharat is all set to create disruption in the devotional market of India and abroad. As the company goes deep in temple listing, enhances the tech stack, and increases its international footprint, the Sri Mandir app will be continuously bridging tradition and technology.
Inputs by Agencies
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