Startups that offer online funeral services

Bob Dylan's famous lines 'The times they are a changin' seem more pertinent in urban areas now than when they were penned in the mid-60s. Technology advancement and increasing internet penetration has led to the creation of online obituary space, obituary e-commerce and the startups meant for after death services. We have listed some startups below which not only can help you arrange funeral services for your loved ones but also help you reach family and friends for paying tributes.

Ahmedabad-based Mokshshil was founded in 2015 by Bilva Desai and Abhijeet Singh. They provide guidance before, during, and after the funeral. Be it Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Jainism, Sikhism, Buddhism or Zoroastrianism, they can provide assistance to the rituals of all religions. They help families take decisions and give them advice regarding all the funeral arrangements. They help families pay tribute with pictures, videos, etc with their feature Mokshanjali. A segment called MokshYatra provides packages for Pilgrimage Tourism. Another segment, Prebook, allows people to book in advance so that they can better take care of costs involved. With AntimKriya, they will help you with the documentation, bringing the loved ones into cars from hospital or home, arranging the priest, getting the flowers, arrangement of bhajan mandli. One of the major differential is that it offers repatriation services; they make sure that all the paper work is done and that the transportation of the deceased is done in a proper and systematic way.

Shradhanjali.com is a Rajkot-based startup, co-founded by Vivek Vyas and Vimal Popat in 2011 (beta version) and finally got established in 2013. It allows its customers to create a page for the ones passed away and post his/her pictures, videos and their life summary or achievements, life principles, etc. Relatives and friends can post their condolences and messages on the posts. The platform offers various regional languages and the option of adding background religious music. One can set death anniversary or birthday reminders through mail for friends and family.

Kashimoksha Inc was founded by Jata Shankar Dwivedi in 2008. Based out of Varanasi, this startup provides funeral services to all Hindus around the world. Their services include Asthi Visarjan, Varshik Shradh, Tripindi, Brahmin Bhoj, Narayan Bali, Rudrabhishek, etc. Each of these services has different type depending on the level of details, starter, silver, gold and platinum and they're charged accordingly. These services are provided through the expert acharyas. The services include a skype interaction for the families who live far away. They also hold anniversary rituals on behalf of the relatives and then send a video of the same.

Families can pack the cremated remains of the deceased and send them across to Kashimoksha and on receiving it, puja shall be performed by the aacharyas.

Founded by Shruthi Reddy in February 2016, Kolkata-based Anthyesti is an end-to-end funeral service provider. From bringing the hearse van, the cremation and ending with shraadh ceremony, Anthyesti will cater to all these services. They provide services for Bengalis, Arya Samajis, Biharis, Marwaris, Sindhis and Punjabis. Broadly, their services include getting hearse vans, booking priests, getting mortuary space, booking banquet halls, getting funeral helper and repatriation.

Tributes.in is a venture by Rahul Jalan, founder of Indiaonline.in, launched by Pan India Network P. Ltd. in 2015. It is like an obituary in a newspaper, except that it's online. One can create a profile or a personalized tribute page for their dear ones who are no more and give information about the chautha, baithak and other rituals. The platform is well integrated with email, Whatsapp and SMS.

Like this report? Sign up for our daily newsletter to get our top reports.