We're delighted to host Prashant Sachan, Founder & CEO of AppsForBharat / Sri Mandir App, in conversation with Anjali Sosale, Partner at WaterBridge Ventures, on Season 4 Episode 8 of That One Idea.
Prashant was born in an agrarian family in a village near Kanpur. His tryst with entrepreneurship started at the age of 18, when he started a customised T-shirts business.
Prashant started AppsForBharat / Sri Mandir App in 2020, following his deep insight that Indians are culturally bound together by their faith. Yet, nothing existed in India's $60B FaithTech/Digital Devotion market that could bring them closer to their deities daily.
Today, AppsFor Bharat has 40M+ downloads, and has raised $36M+ from marquee VCs to continue penetrating this consumer category.
Key moments in the episode:
(00:00): Highlights
(01:09): The meaning of "Faith", and its importance in our lives
(05:50): Sifting through experiments to discover Sri Mandir's value proposition
(10:04): Hitting PMF with profound user love
(12:25): Why choose an unproven market as a second time founder?
(14:59): Nudges that improve engagement - Punyamudras
(19:50): Scripting monetisation: the users will tell you what they want to pay for
(27:45): Bridging the trust gap between Indians and their devotion
(32:50): Understanding how temples make money
(36:30): Being online helps temples be top of mind
(39:36): 8X more people go to Varanasi than Goa
(43:16): Attracting investors in an unproven category
Relevant Links:
WaterBridge Ventures: https://www.waterbridge.vc/
AppsForBharat: https://www.appsforbharat.com/en
LinkedIn Profiles:
Prashant Sachan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/prashantsachan/
Anjali Sosale: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pinkamma/
WaterBridge Ventures: www.linkedin.com/company/waterbridgeventures
You can also listen to this podcast on
YouTube: https://youtu.be/CpYTCI7nLsc