'My Tirth India' spiritual startup temporarily shuts down: What went wrong?

The decision comes months after the demise of Sahara India's Subrata Roy, who was the principal shareholder and investor in the firm

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One-of-its-kind spiritual startup company ‘My Tirth India’ has temporarily ceased its operations due to a fund crunch, the company announced in a post on LinkedIn on Monday.

“...This is to reassure all our franchisees, customers and staff that we remain committed to our promise and our offices will remain open for any assistance and shall carry on as before. It’s just due to the lack of funds we are stopping future and new operations till we are able to find a solution..,” it said.

Speaking to a web news platform, founder Indraneel Dasgupta said that the startup is facing a rough patch due to the demise of its principal shareholder and investor Subrata Roy, noted businessman who was also the chairperson of Sahara India Pariwar.

Roy, who passed away in November last year, had invested nearly $1 million into the startup.

‘My Tirth India’ startup goals

Founded in 2019, My Tirth India acted as a one-stop shop to facilitate spiritual tourism by providing services such as travel loans, online pooja, prasad, idol delivery, among others. It aimed at connecting devotees with India’s top religious destinations.

“Since our investor and mentor, Mr Roy is no longer with us, without further help, we will not be able to proceed…,” Dasgupta told Inc42.

He said the company will resume operations once it secures new investments. This situation has led to a reduction in the workforce, with employee numbers now down to just 10 from earlier 50.

In its LinkedIn post, the company assured that they don’t have any plans to abandon the business.

Push to promote spiritual tourism

The Mumbai-headquartered company also offered unique services such as booking priests for religious functions, yoga classes, and consulting with astrologers.

The birth of ‘My Tirth India’ came amid the Narendra Modi government’s push to promote spiritual destinations across India to bolster the tourism sector.

The sector suffered a huge blow during the Covid-19 induced lockdown and is on a path of recovery. According to the World Economic Forum’s Travel and Tourism Development Index 2024, India has slipped 10 spots since 2019 to stand at 39th rank.

During the full Budget presentation in July, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced an allocation of Rs 2,479 crore for the tourism sector for the financial year 2024-25.