OnlinePrasad secures funding from TutorVista founder K Ganesh, launching a marketplace for idols

Bangalore-based Sumiran Spiritual Services Pvt Ltd, which runs OnlinePrasad.com, a site which offers prasad (offerings to god) on the behalf of users at temples of their choice and then delivers the prasad at users' homes, has secured an undisclosed amount of funding from serial entrepreneur Krishnan Ganesh and wife Meena. The husband-wife duo, best known for starting TutorVista and selling it to Pearson in a big deal, have invested through their investment venture GrowthStory.

"K Ganesh would be joining the company's board of directors," Goonjan Mall, CEO and founder of OnlinePrasad told Techcircle.in. He did not comment on the investment value or the stake purchased but The Times of India, which first reported the deal, said the husband-wife duo picked 35 per cent stake in the startup.

Mall said within two days, five more temples will be listed on the portal, which means it will be delivering prasad from 35 places of worship/temples. Currently, it has listed 30 places of worship on the site.

In terms of expansion, the company will be unveiling a parallel e-commerce brand within a week. The e-com site will sell religious idols, according to Mall.

"We are not yet sure of the name of the upcoming portal," he said.

OnlinePrasad was started by Mall in January 2012. Prior to OnlinePrasad, Mall worked as senior analyst at Bain & Company. He holds a degree in Electronic Engineering from BITS Pilani.

The company partners with vendors/priests at temples and the priests perform prayers and offer prasad on behalf of users. The prasad then gets delivered to users through logistics partners—FedEx and DHL.

The company was part of the eighth batch of startup accelerator The Morpheus.

OnlinePrasad is GrowthStory's sixth portfolio firm. It previously put money in Must See India (travel information site), Bookadda (online book store), Delyver (neighbourhood delivery services), Bluestone (jewellery e-com) and Bigbasket (online grocer).

(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)