Sri Mandir Parent AppsForBharat Bags INR 175 Cr

AppsForBharat, the startup behind spiritual tech platform Sri Mandir, has raised INR 175 Cr ($20 Mn) in its Series C funding round led by Susquehanna Asia VC. Existing investors, including Nandan Nilekani’s Fundamentum, Elevation Capital, and Peak XV Partners, also participated in the round.

The startup plans to use the funds to expand its operations across more than 20 temple towns such as Ayodhya, Varanasi, Ujjain, and Haridwar. 

AppsForBharat will set up logistics and fulfillment centres to manage deliveries of prasad and ritual items, strengthen its services and commerce verticals, and build AI features to improve user experience. 

It also plans to ramp up local hiring to manage temple operations and create jobs in these towns.

Founded in 2020 by Prashant Sachan, AppsForBharat’s flagship spiritual tech app, Sri Mandir, claims to have over 4 Cr downloads and enables devotees to book online poojas, make offerings, receive prasad, and access devotional content. 

It claims that 12 Lakh users completed 52 Lakh rituals at more than 70 temples over the past year using the app. Notably, Sri Mandir was also the official digital partner for the Vedashram Trust at Mahakumbh Mela 2025, and catered to more than 3 Lakh devotees through online and offline experiences during the pilgrimage. 

The startup claims that nearly 20% of its users are from outside India, mainly the US, the UK, the UAE, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

According to founder and CEO Prashant Sachan, the platform has grown 2X in the last six months and is now focussed on building long-term infrastructure to support temples digitally while improving the experience for devotees. 

With this funding round, AppsForBharat has raised a total funding of $53 Mn to date from investors like Angel List, Elevation Capital and BeeNEXT.

Notably, India’s faith tech ecosystem continues to be a thriving sector and is home to over 900 startups, which facilitate a slew of services, including e-darshans, e-poojas, and prasad deliveries.

This growth has primarily been driven by rising internet, smartphone penetration, and demand from young Indians and the diaspora. Startups like Astrotalk, Temple Connect, VAMA, and Phool are some of the other players in the segment. Astrotalk alone claims to have 78 Mn users. It posted a net profit of INR 99.99 Cr on an operating revenue of INR 651.12 Cr in FY24. 

On the back of the rapid growth, Kolkata-based spiritual tech startup Utsav raised INR 6.35 Cr in January in its seed funding round. In the same month, online astrology platform AstroSure.ai raised $6 Mn in a round led by Netmeds founder Pradeep Dadha, along with participation from a host of undisclosed investors.