AppsForBharat, the parent company of the devotion platform Sri Mandir, has raised $18 million in Series B funding (approximately Rs 151 crore. The funding round was led by Nandan Nilekani’s investment firm Fundamentum Partnership. It also saw participation from Susquehanna Asia VC as well as the company’s existing investors including Elevation Capital, Peak XV and Mirae Asset VC.
The funds raised in this round will be utilised for the expansion of the Sri Mandir app’s operation in India and the global market, onboarding temples, introducing new services and developing a “comprehensive tech stack for the devotional ecosystem.”
AppsForBharat was started in November 2020 by Prashant Sachan.
As of now, the Sri Mandir app hosts a searchable database of over 50 temples. The app lets users join pujas, contribute to Chadhava by offering gifts and download many devotional resources—all without leaving the comfort of their houses.
“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. Our vision is to transform Sri Mandir into an end-to-end digital tech platform that caters to every aspect of the devotional journey,” Sachan was quoted by the Hindu Business Lines as saying,
Sri Mandir has more than 30 million downloads of the mobile app. In the last year alone, more than 5 lakh devotees have performed 27 lakh pujas at various temples in India using the Sri Mandir app.
Since opening its access to markets outside India in January this year, the app has reported a monthly growth rate of around 25 to 30%, acquiring 5 lakh users and 2.5 million downloads outside India, according to information shared with TechCrunch.
As per Sachan, the majority chunk of the Sri Mandir app’s user base comes from the United States while the others are from Canada, the United Kingdom and the Middle East.
According to him, the primary patrons of Sri Mandir are first and second-generation Indian Americans. While they are not regular temple-goers, they want to be associated with the culture the founder told Tech Crunch.
Presently, over 25% of the Sri Mandir app’s total income comes from the overseas market.
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