An Indian astrology startup turning prophecy into profits

For the vast majority of the Hindu population in India, consulting an astrologer for every life decision is a given, even for the less devout.

Besides guiding people on their wedding date and who their life partner should be, astrologers give advice when people purchase a new vehicle or an apartment and even on when a baby should be born.

However, with urbanization and a decline in traditional community living, getting access to a pandit for guidance has become a challenge.

This is a problem that India-based startup Astrotalk looked to solve, and it’s been a profitable business so far.

Founded in 2017 by Puneet Gupta, the company built an online platform that connects users with astrologers.

Puneet Gupta, founder and CEO of Astrotalk / Photo credit: Astrotalk

While the platform offers other services like tarot card reading and numerology, 95% of its income stems from online astrology consultations.

Bootstrapped Astrotalk has seen its profit rise by 4x to US$3.3 million in the financial year ended March 2023 (FYE 2023). With its current revenue run rate, the company expects to generate around US$72 million in revenue by the end of FYE 2024, with a profit of US$12 million.

Astrotalk has over 30 million registered users and its monthly active user count hovers around 4 million. The platform claims to have more than 400,000 daily active users.

Astrotalk offers the first session with an astrologer for free, but it charges users by the minute for each following consultation, which some prefer over paying a monthly subscription. The average time spent by a customer in one session is 10 to 11 minutes, corresponding to an average amount of US$2.5 per customer per consultation.

India’s spiritual and religious market is estimated to be worth US$58.5 billion in 2023 and is predicted to grow by a compound annual growth rate of 10% over the next eight years.

Traditional astrologer / Photo credit: Shutterstock

The astrology startup plans to go public once it hits a US$240 million revenue figure, which it expects to do by FYE 2025. Currently, Astrotalk is seeking a pre-IPO round of US$40 million.