Disrupts the hyper local delivery model in the devotional sector
Prabhuji Online, India’s fastest growing technology enabled “Subscription Commerce Company”, has raised an undisclosed amount of funds in pre-series A round from Singapore and India based marquee angel investors. Prabhuji Online is into daily hyper local delivery of fresh flowers and Pooja Samagri. The Company plans to expand into providing Panditji Services to home, organising devotional singers as well as religious and Spiritual Tourism very soon. Prabhuji Online till now has completed more than 3 million successful deliveries in Kolkata to its customers as it delivers everyday essentials for their religious and spiritual needs during its entire journey so far.
Rahul Tayal, ex- Director LG India and Croma, Saahil Mohta ex- Director of ANZ Grindlays Bank Australia, Prashant Tayal, Director of Deutsche Bank Singapore, Saumya Bajaj of World Bank, Jaspreet Bhatia, Managing Director of Ice Cube Holidays and Sumit Keshav with 15 years of experience in IT Strategy having worked for companies like Microsoft and Wipro are on-board as the investors. Oceans Bridge have been the sole advisor to the deal.
The startup is a brainchild of Co-Founder and CEO Manishpal Singh known as Rishi Singh who is an industrialist having diversified expertise with global exposure of the industry and consumers. Prabhuji Online was conceptualised as e-retail to establish a connect amongst the fast moving consumers and products/services available in a very structured and organised manner.
Manishpal Singh, Co-founder and CEO, Prabhuji Online said, “This is a really strategic investment for us as we have got some exceptional investors on board who will bring a lot of value to the company with their rich experience. Our ethos is to reach out to every household of Bharat. We will now expand our footprint to different cities like Raipur, Delhi & Jaipur in 2021 as our immediate plan of execution. Despite the COVID pandemic, we still have been able to serve the daily Spiritual & Devotional needs of our customers and it’s a great achievement for my team.”
Manishpal Singh further added that “We have been growing continuously despite major disruptions and supply chain challenges during the entire COVID period of last 16 months. Our supplies were hampered, procurement from farmers was badly affected, transportation was not allowed but we didn’t stop and managed everything. Our customers have been the biggest support and we are determined to serve them daily for their Religious & Spiritual needs. This market can grow 70-80% year on year for next 5-6 years as there is massive increase in believers during this period.”
Prabhuji Online is focused on local innovation into supply chain, direct procurement from farmers and empowers women workers majorly. 85% of the work force is women and the company is determined towards women empowerment. The company will also directly procure from farmers and ensure quick payments to them.
“We are confident that our association will power Prabhuji Online to scale greater heights in the near future” said Rahul Tayal who has joined the board as a Director and will look after the Marketing and Branding Strategy part of the business.
Prabhuji Online had previously raised a seed round from famous angel investors like Ujjwal Deepak and Anshul Dave. Ujjwal Deepak also participated in the current round and increased his stake. “Startup investing is all about backing the right founding team and an idea which is scalable and profitable” added Ujjwal Deepak.
“Prabhuji Online is focused on frugal innovation and design thinking into their operations especially the daily delivery operations. Prabhuji Online is a perfect blend of technology meets Smart Bhartiya Innovation” added Anshul Dave who is an active Angel Investor with more than 25 investments to his portfolio.
It’s a booming industry with most players being more regionally focused and unorganised with no online presence. The estimated market size of the religious industry is estimated of 2.5 lakh crores. 95% of the Industry is unorganised and is ready for disruption by the use of digital channels because of increase in disposable income, ease of ordering and efficient delivery. Outsourcing in this sector will ensure quality and time efficiency in saving the existence of rituals and culture. Religion is pulse of India and there’s huge market potential waiting to move from unorganised to organised industry.
