Bengaluru-based devotional tech startup AppsForBharat, the parent company behind the faith-focused platform Sri Mandir, has raised USD 20 million (~INR 175 crore) in a Series C round. The investment was led by Susquehanna Asia Venture Capital (SIG) and included participation from existing investors Nandan Nilekani’s Fundamentum, Elevation Capital, and Peak XV Partners.
This is just a year after their previous USD 18 million (~INR 150 crore) Series B round in September 2024 and takes the total capital raised by the startup to over USD 50 million (~INR 428 crore) since 2020.
Temple-Tech Infrastructure in India’s Holy Cities
With a mission to digitise India’s sacred ecosystem, AppsForBharat will use the new funds to expand its presence in over 20 temple towns, including Ayodhya, Varanasi, Ujjain and Haridwar. The company will strengthen its logistics and fulfillment network, set up physical hubs for prasad and ritual item delivery and scale up its services and commerce verticals.
Founder and CEO Prashant Sachan, an IIT Bombay alumnus and serial entrepreneur said, “We are entering our next phase of growth.”
“We’ve grown 2X in the last six months and brought consistent, year-round income to temple priests and local vendors by digitising devotional services,” said Sachan. “With this round, we are scaling temple partnerships, improving digital infrastructure, and deploying AI to enhance the spiritual experience for millions.”
Sri Mandir’s Expanding Digital Footprint
The flagship app Sri Mandir has crossed 4 crore downloads (40 million), where users can book online pujas, offer chadhava (ritual goods), receive prasad and stream devotional content. The platform has done 52 lakh rituals across 70 temples in the last year itself, showing the growing demand for digital faith experiences in India and beyond.
Interestingly, 20% of Sri Mandir’s user base is overseas, mostly among the Indian diaspora in countries like the US, UK, UAE, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Transforming Religious Engagement Through Technology
AppsForBharat is now building an AI-powered virtual assistant that will work like a digital family priest, helping users with rituals, answering spiritual questions and giving personalized content based on region, community and devotional preference. This feature is in limited rollout and will be launched publicly in a month.
Sachan clarified that while the company is not building foundational AI models, it is leveraging one of the largest verified repositories of devotional content curated over the last four years.
“We are not pursuing astrology marketplaces or consultation-based monetisation,” Sachan said. “Instead, we offer free tools like Kundli generation and aim to preserve trust in a space often viewed with scepticism.”
Economic and Social Impact in Temple Towns
AppsForBharat’s strategy isn’t just digital—it’s deeply physical and economic. The company plans to establish fulfilment centres in temple towns, hiring 500 to 1,000 local employees and gig workers over the next couple of years. Each centre will serve as a node for ritual goods delivery, creating a sustainable income stream for priests, vendors, and service providers.
At the Mahakumbh Mela 2025, Sri Mandir served as the exclusive digital partner of the Vedashram Trust, enabling over 3 lakh devotees to access guided rituals, receive Triveni Sangam Jal, and participate in hybrid devotional services.
Digital puja bookings have led to a 25-30% increase in temple revenues as per AppsForBharat, showing the tangible economic benefit to the temples.
Financial Growth and Future Outlook
In the financial year ending March 2024, AppsForBharat reported an over five-fold increase in operating revenue, from INR 3.53 crore in FY23 to INR 18.53 crore, while managing to narrow its net losses from INR 44.97 crore to INR 39 crore.
The company is poised to continue its growth by onboarding two of India’s top 10 temples, though details remain under wraps. With more than 900 startups in India’s booming faith-tech ecosystem, the competition includes players like DevDham, Utsav App, Ghar Mandir, VAMA, Temple Connect, and Astrotalk, the latter of which claims 78 million users and INR 651 crore revenue in FY24.
AppsForBharat, however, remains focused on building trust, infrastructure, and spiritual utility, not just scale.
“Devotion is a low-trust space,” said Sachan. “But once someone receives a Prasad box from our temple partners, they come back. That’s the kind of loyalty and purpose we are building.”
About AppsForBharat
Founded in November 2020, AppsForBharat is a spiritual technology company based out of Bengaluru. The company’s platform Sri Mandir digitizes devotional experiences for Indian and global users, offering services like online rituals, prasad delivery and AI-guided spiritual content.
As the company expands its footprint in temple towns and strengthens its AI-led spiritual assistant, it will continue to merge tradition with technology and change the way millions practice their faith in the digital age. For more details related to IPO GMP, SEBI IPO Approval, and Live Subscription, stay tuned to IPO Central.