World is at your fingertips with the revolution of the Internet. This is not just a commercial slogan, but the reality we are going through in current times. Everything you need on a daily basis is available online. The things you use, places you go, food you eat and literally everything is kind of decided by the Internet. So, in this festive season, what about spirituality and religion?
Galvanized by the belief and family traditions, most of the Indians are deeply connected with religious aspects, specially the donations. Considering just the temple economy, up to 40 lakh kilogram of gold treasures, annual donations worth above INR 3,000 crore from India’s 10 richest temples, around 50 major festivals and probably less than 100 assorted pujas – performed daily to annual basis – for different good and bad occasions, right from birth till death, in fact even after death! Transparently, India’s addiction to religion and faith is more to discuss.
When the pandemic happened, we saw a boom in making everything virtual. Virtual meetings, online classes, online shopping, and what not. Surprisingly, our faith and religious rituals also went online. The virtual world created the most convenient means to offer our prayer. Though, the emotion we feel is another topic to discuss, this comfort of no long queues and crowds, has brought devotees from all over the world into a virtual pilgrimage.
In 2020, the spiritual market was estimated around $44 billion. The growing demands in the sector continued to surge even post-pandemic. This resulted in gaining the attention of entrepreneurs to this flourishing industry. Here are some of the major virtual-tech startups that you can explore in these holidays.
1. Online Prasad.com
Founded in 2012 by Goonjan Mall and Shachi Prakash, OnlinePrasad offers an online retail platform that allows users to browse through various temple prasad products available and place an online order for home delivery. Headquartered in Bengaluru, the platform has secured both Seed and pre-Series A funding. The platform aims at bringing people closer to their faith by using technology.
2. VAMA
Established by Manu Jain, Himanshu Semwal and Aacharya Dev in late 2020, VAMA is a one-stop virtual platform that provides easy access to an array of services for one’s religious/spiritual journey. For devotees and customers from all over the world, the platform offers virtual puja remedies in temples. Based on the extensive knowledge and experience of its experts, VAMA offers solutions tailored to the needs of clients. It has secured Seed funding in 2022.
3. Shubhpuja
Founded in 2019, Shubhpuja is a science and technology based platform for delivering Vedic Pujas (Online and offline) by vetted Pandits and spirituality related products. At present this industry is highly fragmented and disorganised. The platform aims to break the barrier by creating a tech enabled platform to deliver authentic and professional services in this industry.
4. Temple 360
Temple 360 is a digital platform launched by the Minister of State for Culture and External Affairs, Meenakshi Lekhiwhere anyone can visit or do darshan of 12 Jyotirlinga and Char Dham from any location, making everyone’s life convenient while also keeping people connected. The website also allows a devotee to perform e-Darshan, e-Prashad, e-Aarti and several other services.
5. AppsForBhaarat
AppsForBharat was founded in November 2020 by Prashant Sachan. The platform is on a mission to assist a billion Indians in their spiritual and devotional journeys and guide them on the path toward feeling happy, peaceful, and content. The company offers products that offer spiritual, devotional, well-being and meditation-related tools, communities and services. In September 2021, the startup raised $10 million funding.
6. VR Devotee
Founded by Apul Nahata, John Kuruvilla and Ashwani Garg, VR Devotee is an app that livestreams Hindu temple services, festivals, and events at holy sites. Although the app was founded in 2016, its user base has expanded exponentially during COVID-19. Since India’s lockdown in March 2020, VR Devotee claims to have seen an increase of up to 40% in use, mainly for live streams. The platform secured pre-Series A funding from HNIs.
7. Utsav App
Founded in 2021, by Sourajit Basu, Ankita De, and Prajata Samanta, Utsav App is a Kolkata-based startup that digitizes religious gatherings and auspicious occasions in India. Together, the entrepreneur trio founded Applex Technologies that serves as an end-to-end technical support solution for startups. Eventually, they launched the Utsav App to bring a digital touch to the religious ceremonies and gatherings of the country. The tech startup had secured Seed funding.
8. Paavan App
Paavan is a well-being app offering curated solutions, mindfulness programs and micro-courses on self-improvement, skill mastery, relationships, career and health. The platform has raised total funding of $568k in 2 rounds. App-based platform Paavan offers bhajans, stories, and lessons related to Hinduism. It provides devotional songs, lessons, stories, mantra and Chalisa, life guidance from gurus etc.
9. Hoovu Fresh
Hoovu Fresh is a startup that delivers fresh flowers by shortening the supply chain and leveraging technology in packaging and innovation. Rhea Karuturi and Yeshoda Karuturi, the sister duo founded Hoovu Fresh, a flower delivery startup that delivers fresh traditional flowers to consumers across the country by shortening the supply chain and leveraging technology in packaging and innovation.
10. Emerging Vision
Emerging vision is an online global spiritual wellness platform which facilitates interactive, face-to-face consultations with verified astrologers, tarot readers, life coaches and mentors. The platform claims it currently has 180,000 consultations per month with around 30% of new users returning to consult the app again in the following month. The startup had also secured Series A funding in 2021.
