India recently witnessed two mega-events: The Mahakumbh and the inauguration of the Ram Temple. But these were not just great moments etched in the county’s spiritual legacy. They also paved the path for a new category of startups operating at the intersection of faith, communities and technology.

Often clubbed under the terms faithtech, spiritual tech, or devotion tech, these ventures are reimagining traditional religious experiences through digital platforms. What was once limited to temple visits and in-person rituals is now increasingly accessible online, thanks to a new wave of apps and services designed to meet the evolving habits of a digitally connected population.

Startups such as the Vama App, AppsForBharat, Astrotalk, DevDham, Utsav App and Japam have introduced offerings like virtual darshans, live-streamed pujas, astrology consultations and doorstep prasad delivery. As the digital infrastructure expands and smartphones go deeper into semi-urban and rural India, traditional religious experiences are rapidly going online, powered by the convenience and scale of communication technologies.

Industry numbers also support these growth trends. India’s religious and spiritual market is expected to reach $151.9 Bn by 2034 at a CAGR of 10% from $58.6 Bn in 2024. Also, more than 900 startups are operating in this space, underscoring a thriving market. Therefore, investors are not far behind.

Consider this. In 2024, Bengaluru-based AppsForBharat raised $18 Mn in a Series B round, underscoring investor confidence in a category that is still evolving. Earlier that year, Noida-based DevDham also secured INR 6 Cr in seed funding, signalling a growing interest in the country’s spiritual practices.

Among the early backers of these startups was Trillion Dollar Venture Partners, a young micro VC player that places early bets on what it sees as an untapped frontier.

“I am a big believer in the [spiritual tech] segment,” Ujwal Sutaria, founder and general partner at TDV, told Inc42 in an exclusive interaction as part of our Moneyball series.

“This is a unique opportunity for India. Faith is increasingly converging with the broader lifestyle, much like wellness. At TDV, we are investing in this space because it is a non-consensus bet in a deeply cultural category.”

According to him, faithtech, as a non-consensus play, has the potential to build strong emotional moats and drive habitual engagement. “It is a fragmented but massive economy worth INR 4 Lakh Cr with no definitive digital category leaders. That presents a compelling whitespace for innovation and scale,” he added.

Sutaria, a two-time entrepreneur and former investor at InnoVen Capital, backed a wide range of high-growth Indian startups such as Swiggy, Licious, Epigamia, BlackBuck, Eruditus and Dealshare. During his tenure at InnoVen, a leading venture debt firm, he played a key role in financing some of the country’s most prominent early stage startups.

He left the firm in 2021 to launch TDV, a micro VC initiative focussing on pre-seed and seed investments. The founder operated as the solo general partner and raised $3 Mn (approx. INR 25 Cr) for the first fund, writing cheques worth $100K to 30 startups.

Among its early bets were three faithtech startups — AppsForBharat, DevDham and Soulsensei. Interestingly, the Fund I is trending around 80% MOIC.

Fund II, with a corpus of $5.7 Mn (INR 50 Cr), was rolled out in 2024. The plan is to invest in 20-25 startups, with cheque size up to $500K in the next two years, and four investments have already been made from the second vehicle.

“Our mission is to support bold, visionary founders from the very beginning, entrepreneurs with the ambition to build category-defining companies that can drive transformative changes,” said Sutaria. “Even our name reflects that purpose — a commitment to backing those who aim to change the world.”

The broader portfolio includes startups such as KindLife, Eternz, STAN, Awign, AppX and Hypergro. Seventeen of these portfolio companies have already secured follow-on rounds, the founder claims, a promising signal of early traction in a competitive landscape.

As Sutaria dived into TDV’s investment thesis, he highlighted the selection........

© Inc42