AppsForBharat raises ₹175 cr in Series C to expand Sri Mandir’s faith-tech footprint across temple towns

AppsForBharat, the parent company of devotion platform Sri Mandir, has secured ₹175 crore ( approx. $20 million) in a Series C funding round led by Susquehanna Asia Venture Capital, with continued participation from existing backers including Nandan Nilekani’s Fundamentum, Elevation Capital, and Peak XV Partners.

According to the company, the fresh capital will be used to deepen Sri Mandir’s presence across more than 20 temple towns including Varanasi, Ayodhya, Ujjain, and Haridwar. The firm plans to build fulfillment hubs, boost its commerce and services verticals, ramp up local hiring, and deploy AI-powered features to enhance user experience, it added.

Susquehanna Asia joined AppsForBharat’s captable in September 2024 when it led $18 million Series B round along with Fundamentum, Elevation Capital, Peak XV, and Mirae Asset VC.

Since its launch in 2020, Sri Mandir claims to have garnered over 40 million downloads, enabling users to perform online pujas, send offerings (chadhava), receive prasad, and access devotional content from anywhere in the world. Over the past year, 12 lakh devotees conducted 52 lakh online rituals across more than 70 temples via the app. Nearly 20% of the app’s usage stems from the Indian diaspora across the US, the UK, UAE, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, it said in a statement.

“With this fundraise, we’re entering our next phase of growth—scaling temple partnerships, strengthening digital infrastructure and building AI capabilities,” said Prashant Sachan, Founder & CEO of AppsForBharat. “We’ve grown 2X in the last six months and have significantly boosted year-round revenues for priests, vendors, and temple service providers. Our vision is to make Sri Mandir the spiritual companion for millions of devotees across India and the diaspora.”

As per the company, India is home to over 6.5 lakh temples and generates approximately ₹3 lakh crore annually through spiritual services, commerce, and tourism—nearly 2.3% of GDP. However, the space remains largely fragmented and offline.

AppsForBharat is aiming to formalise this ecosystem by enabling temples to engage devotees online, generate recurring income, and provide better access to religious experiences.

Over the past year, the spiritual tech startup said it has driven up offline footfall and boosted temple earnings, with online puja bookings contributing 25–30% additional income.

The next frontier for AppsForBharat is the integration of AI-based tools within Sri Mandir. These will help users navigate the app, offer personalised spiritual recommendations, and handhold devotees through rituals and festivals.

“Sri Mandir has laid the groundwork for digital devotional infrastructure,” said Sai Araveti, Investment Advisor at Susquehanna Asia VC. “Their transition from a service marketplace to a full-spectrum spiritual platform is what excites us most. They’re preserving the sanctity of rituals while making devotion more accessible.”