Nandan Nilekani’s Fundamentum Partnership in talks to lead $19 million round in AppsForBharat

AppsForBharat has already raised $14 million from several VC funds and angels including Tiger Global’s Scott Shleifer, Cred’s Kunal Shah, Shaadi.com’s Anupam Mittal and several others.

AppsForBharat is in advanced talks to raise $18-19 million in a round being led by Fundamentum Partnership, the venture capital firm run by Nandan Nilekani, people aware of the developments told Moneycontrol. Some existing investors are also likely to participate in the round. Elevation Capital, Peak XV Partners, Matrix Partners India are a few of the company’s notable backers.

AppsForBharat is the parent company that runs Sri Mandir, a devotional app. From booking poojas at temples to accessing a library full of spiritual texts, scriptures and videos, the startup aims to be a destination for all spiritual requirements. It also allows users to consult astrologers and priests.

With the latest move, this is yet another instance where investors are rushing to back startups that are building in the faith-based economy and catering to a growing user base. In April, Moneycontrol had reported that Astrotalk, a spiritual tech startup, is preparing to raise $30 million from Elev8 Venture Partners and Left Lane Capital. That was after it had already raised $20 million in February.

While those are larger rounds, others startups, like InstaAstro, Vama, DevDham, Melooha, have raised smaller $0.5 million to $2.5 million rounds each, highlighting that there is potential in the market. The faith-based economy market is worth $30 billion, as per analysts.

“The faith-based economy, especially the companies building around the temple ecosystem are very exciting at the moment which explains Fundamentum’s interest in AppsForBharat,” one of the persons quoted above said.

Bengaluru-based AppsForBharat is also securing a debt line of around $3 million as part of the same round, taking the total fundraise to around $21-22 million, another person aware of the developments said. The round values the company at around $80-90 million, sources said.

The talks are still ongoing so the deal contours may change slightly.

AppsForBharat and Fundamentum did not reply to Moneycontrol’s queries.

Capital utilisation

The company will use the fresh funds to grow its user base by offering more services and pushing up its average order value (AOVs).

At present, SriMandir’s lowest offering begins at Rs 51 ($0.6) and goes all the way up to Rs 3,100 ($37). “SriMandir has to create enough stock keeping units (SKUs) so people do not get bored or tired after the first few purchases and they will not return,” another person aware of the developments said. “SriMandir has to have more avenues for people to spend. It is like fast fashion, or like anything else – If customers see a good thing, they will spend on it,” the person added.

SriMandir has been expanding offerings as seen in its financial performance.

Even as the company’s net loss widened 5X from Rs 9 crore in FY22 to Rs 45 crore in FY23, its revenue increased from Rs 3.8 lakh to Rs 3.5 crore during the same period. About 25 percent of its revenues come from markets outside India. Founded by Prashant Sachan in 2020, AppsForBharat has already raised $14 million from several VC funds and angels including Tiger Global’s Scott Shleifer, Cred’s Kunal Shah, Shaadi.com’s Anupam Mittal and several others.