By Saumya Tewari

Gujarat based online memorial portal, Shradhanjali.com is expecting to break even by the end of this financial year. It also plans to expand their presence in various big cities of Maharashtra, Karnataka, MP and Rajasthan by 2013.

The start-up aims to preserve the memories of departed loved ones on a digital platform. Users can create archive of their ancestors or departed family members and upload information like biography, photos, videos, family details, social services etc. They can also set birth and death anniversary reminders for relatives and pass on the legacy to the future generation.

Shradhanjali.com was launched by Rajkot based Vimal Popat and Vivek Vyas in 2010.

“The idea came while having snacks which were wrapped in a newspaper page carrying an obituary column. We were disturbed with the sight and thought of creating a platform which will provide a respectable format to remember departed souls. Since, we wanted the platform to be long lasting and globally accessible it has to be on the online medium that is how Shradhanjali.com was born,” says Vivek.

Though there are international platforms like memoriesforever.com and ourlovedones.com in the market, there are no big domestic players in the online memorial market.
 
Speaking on competition, Vivek explains why their venture has a chance to cut a bigger pie.

“Obituary columns in newspapers are not our competitors as we cater to different viewers and both the platforms have different tenure, visibility and features. As far as foreign players are concerned, they charge heavily on an annual basis. In addition to that, they do not offer the flexibility of Indian regional languages. That is the biggest reason for our people to not get attracted to those sites. We believe that even if some domestic players come up, the market is so huge that everyone will be able to flourish,” he informs.

Vivek claims that they have taken necessary security measures to ensure privacy. While the profiles published are accessible to everyone, the condolence messages can be administered by the user; once approved by him/her it will appear on the profile of the deceased profile. The platform provides user the option to hide, publish and delete all the messages whenever he/she wants.

Currently the portal has more than 110 paid registered users with data like Traffic – 1231586, searches- 479 and Frequency- 28800. The service is priced at one time fee of INR 2700 with no renewals for 30 years. The startup is planning to come up with various plans for one, five and ten years. The startup runs through partnering with agencies which are freelance in nature.

“They get payouts on getting subscriptions. We support them with training, data entry and marketing aids they require,” Vivek says.

Shradhanjali, which is currently bootstrapped, plans to reach out to angel investors and venture capital in a bid to raise funds.
 
“Going forward we will need funding in order to make this service available on a pan-India level. We are open to funds and strategic partnerships with angels and media houses,” he adds.