Shradhanjali Brings Obituaries to Internet in 10 Indian Languages

Preserving the Memories of Those Who Have Passed On

Founders Vivek Vyas and Vimal Popat started Shradhanjali.com as a means of keeping all the memories of our loved ones safe after their demise. Shradhanjali is a place where one could upload and share videos and photos and tributes about their loved ones with other family members. Since its inception, it has won a lot of awards and praise.

Founders’ Profile

Vivek Vyas: Before starting up Shradhanjali, Vivek worked with SBI for 7 years in their bancassurance department. He handled sales and training of the bank’s Baroda branch and excelled to secure # 1 position.

Vimal Popat: He worked in diverse fields like manpower management, agencies and dealerships for 12 years. During this period, he went on to work for Castrol Ltd. and also led a team of 100 financial advisors at Tata AIG. In the process, he achieved many milestones.

The Model

Source- MID DAY
Every year, in India, around 7 million deaths are reported. On an average, a regular family has 4 members. Going by that math, 28,000 people get affected by death in family every year. Newspapers carrying obituaries keep lying around in the home and gather dust over a period of time.

Co-founders Vivek Vyas and Vimal Popat realized a huge untapped market. The idea was to create a platform where obituaries could be uploaded and shared with all the near and dear ones. At the same time, family members could share tributes, videos and photos adding to the fond memories of the one who has passed on. Unlike newspapers, these memories could be shared and stored for years to come.

With an option of writing in 10 different languages, Shradhanjali has, today, ensured a wider reach among different regions.

How Did It Happen?

Both Vivek Vyas and Vimal Popat were contemplating leaving their jobs and doing something of their own. While eating samosas, they stumbled upon an obituary in the newspaper wrapped around their samosa. They were affected by the kind of treatment these newspaper obituaries were getting; just being treated like waste. This was the spark that ignited the idea of Shradhanjali.

Today, apart from India, Shradhanjali has users from countries as far as USA, UK, Canada and Africa.

The Road So Far and Achievements Along the Way

Till today, the website has 400 obituaries online. It pulls in an average income of 80,000 a month with a traffic of about 9,000 visitors per month.

One of its kind website in India, shradhanjali.com has been listed in the India Book of Records and the Limca Book of Records, 2014. It has been to many conventions and has won Manthan South West India Award, Amrita TBI Pitch Fest Bangalore 2015, Viridian ESpark’s BigB Plan contest among other awards. It was also showcased at the 1^st Indian Language Digital Festival Bhasha earlier this year. The proudest moment for its founders came when PM Narendra Modi himself wrote a letter of praise to them stating that such a unique and humanitarian effort was worth appreciation.

Future Seems Brighter

Shradhanjali’s reach needs to further widen so that people in other regions can also use it. Keeping this in mind, there are plans of opening offices in other states as well. Right now their offices are in Gujarat only. There are also plans of introducing newer subscription plans to better suit the needs of its customers.

Takeaways:-

• Shradhanjali.com is India’s one of its kind online platform where one can write tributes, share photos and videos of the loved ones who have passed on.
• It has made it to the India Book of Records and the Limca Book of Records.
• PM Narendra Modi himself wrote a letter of appreciation for their effort.
• It pulls in an average income of Rs. 80,000 a month with traffic around 9,000 visitors per month.