French-born author, composer, and humanistic astrologer Dane Rudhyar famously said: “Astrology is a language. If you understand this language, the sky speaks to you.”
Across the world, astrological beliefs in connections between celestial observations and terrestrial events have held strong for centuries. In India, astrology, palmistry, and kundli have been at the forefront for eons when it comes to seeking to understand general and specific human behaviour through the influence of celestial objects.
But things have changed somewhat in last couple of years, post pandemic, with astrology going online.
The digitisation of astrology has made it more accessible for millennials, xennials, and Gen-Zers, and allowed them benefits such as transparent pricing, affordable costs, a selection of the “kind” of astrology service (tarot reading, palmistry, face reading, Vedic astrology, etc ).
These astrology startups, which are tapping the latest technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and voice-based services, have caught the attention of venture capital firms, with many investing in astrotech startups.
Consultations have become even more popular in India, and YourStory has curated a list of astrotech startups that are helping provide answers to all questions related to one’s life, career, love, marriage, and others.
AstroTalk
Founded in 2017 by Puneet Gupta and Anmol Jain, New Delhi-based astrology platform offers both Indian and Western astrology. It provides advice by analysing birth charts and astrology signs, and offers future predictions online.
AstroTalk team
The startup aims to make Indian astrology accessible across the globe at the click of a button. Its app has five million downloads on the Google Play Store.
"Whenever customers are feeling sad, depressed, or anxious, they come to our website or app and speak to an astrologer. Following this, they end up feeling much better and more comforted by the prediction that things would be better in the future," said Puneet.
Taaraka
Founded in 2018 by Jikku Abraham, Lokesh Bathija, and Marina Emmatty, Mumbai-based astrotech startup offers astrology services to consumers via an Android and iOS mobile ‘self-discovery app’ that provides people with daily updates about their lives.
The startup uses tech and automation tools such as data science, algorithms, and AI/ML, making horoscope readings real time and hyperlocal. The app has more than 100,000 downloads on the Google Play Store.
"Scaling consistent quality is a huge challenge when it comes to astrology, but we get around it by using data sciences and algorithms along with our pedagogy to augment an expert to perform at many notches above their usual performance," Jikku said.
Cosmic Insight
Ex-fashionista and techie duo Nirvata Mathur and Archana Patchirajan started Cosmic Insight in 2016. The startup is built for anyone seeking to understand and learn more about the influence that the cosmos has on one’s life, based on the tenets of Vedic astrology.
Prior to being launched as a basic app, it showed daily transit details about the nakshatras, giving users an understanding of the "energy” influences at play that day and tips on how one could associate with that energy.
"We are working on an inference engine, based on AI and big data, the first of its kind in the field of Vedic astrology. We are also working on a B2B prediction platform that, according to planetary influences, could predict the right time to run marketing campaigns and also help target the right people at the right time with the right messaging, resulting in sales. We use this model for our own business and have seen phenomenal results," Nirvata said.
The startup aims to eliminate the fears associated with astrology, especially planetary positions. The app has 100,000 downloads on Google Play Store.
Askmonk
Founded by Vaibhav Magon as a mobile-first tech startup, is an Android app via which anyone can ask their questions privately and securely on any topic ranging from business, career, marriage, love, immigration, litigation, and health.
Team Askmonk
The startup aims to change the way people seek astrological solutions online with a curated marketplace that gives access to professional astrologers in a conversational Q&A format.
"It happened last year when a colleague of mine wanted to seek some career advice. I introduced him to my dad, who has been an astrologer for the last 25 years. In that moment, I saw an opportunity to connect the seeker and the giver online, so that people could have access to a community of family astrologers, which is a huge problem in itself," Vaibhav said.
Astrobuddy
Founded in 2018 by Bhupesh Sharma, New Delhi-based online astrology platform offers science-based astrological practices as opposed to propagating conventional stereotypes that sync astrology with religion.
Bhupersh Sharma, AstroBuddy
The startup offers services such as daily, monthly, and yearly horoscopes for free, personalised on-the-go problem-solving on topics like marriage, career, finances, lifespan, relationships, health, and much more.
"When people in India think about astrology, they imagine a priest with a tilak on his forehead. As AstroBuddy, we’re saying that astrology has nothing to do with religion or poojas or mantras. We don't want people to get superstitious. Astrology is just a guided tool that lets people identify their strengths and weaknesses and understand the phases [of life]. Think of it as a roadmap of your life." Bhupesh said.
Edited by Teja Lele Desai