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Indian startup AskMonk is an online curated marketplace that connects people with the best astrologers

Is astrology a branch of science or just superstition?

The jury is still out on this debate, even hundreds of thousands of years after its origin in the Vedic times. While staunch astrology supporters refer to umpteen instances wherein predictions on various world events went accurate to corroborate their belief, those who oppose these claims have been an equal — or even greater — number of instances wherein prophecies ended up in utter disappointment.

As the debate gathers momentum, the number of people believing in this science (or pseudo science?) is on the rise, globally. It is not just for the illiterate. Even highly-educated professionals and business tycoons also turn to astrologers when they get hit by a crisis in their lives.

The have their own reasons to believe so. For instance, in November last year, known Indian astrologer Praveen Mishra predicted Donald Trump’s win in the US election. He took into account certain criteria like his date of birth and zodiac signs to make the prediction, which eventually turned out to be true.

Believe it or not, astrology is a massive US$20 billion market globally. And you don’t need an astrologer to evaluate the market opportunities. Predictably, some smart entrepreneurs have already started exploring these opportunities.

“Product gurus say that there are only four things that work well in India: A,B, C and D (Astrology, Bollywood, Cricket and Devotion),” said Vaibhav Magon, an entrepreneur who is looking for a piece of the pie of the growing astrology market, through his startup AskMonk.

“Vedic astrology is a massive opportunity simply because India is made of a billion-plus believers, of whom almost 50 per cent are young, less than 30 years of age and have great purchasing power,” added Magon, who himself is an ardent believer of astrology.

The cowl does not make the monk

AskMonk is simply ‘astrology on the go’, says Magon. A curated marketplace, AskMonk brings astrologers and people together. “For the tech-speak, we are simply a mobile-first startup that aims to transform the way people seek astrology online. It takes no more than 30 seconds to find an astrologer on AskMonk and ask a question. All our astrologers are handpicked after due evaluation based on number of years of experience, education and their passion to pursue astrology as an enabler.”

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The idea of AskMonk came about last year when a colleague approached Magon, seeking career advice and guidance. Magon introduced him to his father, an astrologer of 25 years, and helped him focus and plan better. This is when he thought of starting an online platform to connect seekers with the astrologers.

According to Magon, the sheer size of astrology market makes it an overall great opportunity to go after. While the Indian market is pegged at around US$10 billion, globally it is a US$20 billion market. But these estimates usually do not cover countries like China, Japan, or Southeast Asia, where astrology is practised in alternative forms and is probably just as deeply rooted in their local culture as it is in India.

As of 2017, India happens to be the largest producer and consumer of astrology (though some may argue that it is China) in the world.

“Online astrology is a subset, an emerging market that is currently estimated somewhere between US$500 million and US$1 billion annually in India alone. With explosion of smartphones and app economy, the online avatar of astrology market is growing at ferocious pace (~90 per cent annually) and is likely to reach US$2.5 billion to US$5 billion in the next three to five years. It is expected that online astrology will eclipse its offline counterpart somewhere near 2020-2022 when a significant chunk of consumers will shift completely to online equivalent of such services and are also tech-savvy,” Magon went on.

Bleeding edge of science

AskMonk facilitates interactions between an astrologer and the seeker in a simple and asynchronous manner, in a Q&A style conversational format, which is natural to how people seek astrology offline and is very up-close and personal. The platform does not facilitate realtime chat with astrologers.

Its customers are mostly young people aged between 18 and 35 years. The startup generates revenues through commissions.

AskMonk is currently focussed on finding a life-coach — e.g., a family astrologer — for all its clients. All of AskMonk’s astrologers are handpicked after deep due diligence and they often bring the very best of Vedic astrology, Magon claimed.

But don’t you think AskMonk is encouraging superstition?

“Not at all. Vedic astrology is empirical science that’s fundamentally rooted in maths. It would be disingenuous to assume that it is anywhere close to encouraging superstition,” he said.

“Our astrologers do not deal in superstitious material at all: In fact, most of them are also engineers or double graduates or certified astrologers from deemed universities of India that offer such courses. Even to the most skeptical critic, Vedic Astrology would come off as somewhere in between exact science and spirituality — astrology is after all a precursor of astronomy (bleeding edge of science) and it has in some ways led mankind into empirical observation of sky, stars and planetary positions,” he added.

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From Askmonk’s standpoint, astrology is one of the oldest forms of support system devised to help people get back on their feet again, and achieve their best in life. It runs deeply in the veins of our society, and even in those who think they are not into it (read: skeptics).

“Nevertheless, our astrologers help people plan and prepare better for the life ahead, they help people carry on in hard times — a service that we think is both a crucial and valuable for the society,” he remarked.

 

Recently, the startup received pre-seed money from Marvin Danig, a tech investor and startup mentor from Washington DC, besides a couple of private angels. At this point, it is actively looking to raise somewhere between US$500,000 and US$1 million in seed or pre-Series A to go to the next stage of its journey.

For Magon, starting up has been very exciting and a different experience. He has had his share of learnings from the journey: “There have been three main learnings: One, be patient and never panic under any circumstance. Maintain cool at all times. Two, you got to be involved in everything and with everybody in the organisation. And lastly, never lose hope. It is undoubtedly the most important learning to stay optimistic, be focused and not only motivate yourself but be the torchbearer for everybody else in the company.”

Do you also turn to astrologers in difficult times? “Yes, absolutely,” Magon laughed.

The world is going from bad to worse, and in every part of the world, right wing, xenophobic, and totalitarian regimes are coming to power to add to the misery of the people — the latest example being Donald Trump’s victory in the US. Some soothsayers had already predicted Trump will not last long.

But who will get rid off him? Maybe we need to turn to another astrologer to hear the good news.

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